THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


alicniiinr  JJarUrr 


Attouat  24.  1810  — iHaa  10.  1060 

Anmwrsan^H  of 
Itrtli  mh  i?atl| 


(llpUbrateii  in  ffllfiraflo,  Nnnrmbcr  U-ZO.  19111 

unlter  tl|p  auapicfB  af  tljr 

3ffr?0  iRrligtnuB  ABaortation 

Charles  W.  Wendte.  D.  D.,  President 

(IIl|0  (Eongrf  Bs  of  Religion 

Emil  G.  Hirsch,  Ph.  D.,  Acting  President 

Nattoital  iFeheratton  of  IRpltgtouB  Slibf  ralB 

Henry  W.  Wilbur,  President 

anil  a  Inral  rommittf  p  of  ant  i^anhrth 


Stenogrraphically  Reported  by 
Mrs.  Annie  Laurie  Kelly 


1911 

UNITY  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

CHICAGO 


IN  presenting  this  report  of  the 
Theodore  Parker  Anniver- 
saries, held  in  Chicago,  Nov- 
ember 13  to  20,  1910,  the  committee 
desire  to  express  their  obligation  to 
the  men  and  women — citizens  of  Chi- 
cago and  elsewhere— whose  generosity 
made  the  meetings  and  this  report 
possible,  and  to  the  speakers  who, 
without  compensation,  traveled  long 
distances  to  pay  their  tribute  to  this 
prophet  of  the  soul. 

We  beg  leave  to  dedicate  these 
pages  to  those  who  are  to  come  after, 
the  future  generations  for  whom  and 
with  whom  Theodore  Parker  will  still 
be  working. 


-Cri^ 


^l>05'/5 


I|^0b0r^  Parker 


^L  W  fit0O&  fur  Hiintja  anli  auflfrrpb  for 
^^^^  ll)tngs  ti|at  ar?  hpgonlJ  prtrr.  Al- 
tliougli  aHsatbi  \sx\\\\  \\^Xti\\\  p^Jittirta  anJJ  fr^qurttt 
mtHrrprrs^ntatton,  grt  I)r  tirurr  tuaurr? b  ani  tipnrr 
ml|tmprrrb.  arrrpting  ll|r  rottspqu^nrps  of  ainrf  ritg 
Ukr  a  \x\xt  aoliipr  in  tl|?  battle  for  \\\^  pmatirtpa- 
tion  of  i|umatttttr.  As  a  prfarl|pr  of  natural  pt^lij. 
I|f  I|a5  no  pqual  in  l|i0  gpn^ration.  I|ia  "®pn 
§'prmonfl  on  S?  ligion"  ar?  aa  rrmarkabb  for  X\\t\x 
poflititJf  ronnirtiona  anlJ  \\\t\x  anfalimp  faitt?  aa  for 
ti|rir  uipaltl)  of  illuatration  anii  ll|^ir  aplrniii 
iirtion.  %^  tangl|t  mp  at  baat  to  rpapprt  anb  I|onor 
I|im,  tyxtw  mlien  3  ronlli  not  anli  ujoulji  not  foUom. 
if?  op? ni^b  my  pgpa  to  ftpfprta  in  rxiating  OII|ria- 
tianitg — ortt|obox  aniJ  t|dproliox — nom  aa  baring 
anJi  pFrniriona  aa  ml|pn  \\i  liiarloarb  anb  bp- 
nonnrrb  tljpm.  Hut  l|p  bib  far  morp.  %t  prpa^nt^b 
an  ibf  al  of  rpligioua  Vdt  ao  rirl|  in  Ptl|iral  anb 
apiritnal  b^autg  tlyat  it  appm^b  to  mp,  uil|pn  it 
firat  attrartpb  mp,  to  bp  a  rompoaitp  pirtnrp  of 
tl|p  bpat  of  tljp  aainta — a  pirtnrp  tlyat  tynmblpb  i|Pt 
inapirpb  mp.  tlyat  mabp  mp  amarp  I|om  littlp  of  tlyp 
pompr  of  an  pnblpaa  lifp  3f  Ijab  apprpl?pnbpb.  popn 
mnrly  Ipaa  arqnirpb.  anb  at  tijp  aamp  timp  rrpatpb 
in  mp  a  rrauing  to  bp  tranaformpb  into  aomp 
rpapmblanrp  to  tl|p  imagp  ao  iiimblg  rpnpalpb. 


— 3Pr0m  a  m^U-knonm  MFtI|a&tBt  Stmnr. 


OIottt^ntB 


THE  INVITATION 9 

RESPONSES 11 

THE  CALL IS 

FROM  THE  ADVISORY  COMMITTEE 18 

PROGRAM 19 

ORCHESTRA  HALL  MEETING— 
Address  by 
Rev.  Charles  F.  Carter 25 

SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING— 
Addresses  by 

Mr.  Edwin  D.  Mead 32 

Prof.  George  B.  Foster 40 

Rev.  Charles  F.  Carter 46 

HULL  HOUSE  MEETING— 
Addresses  by 

Rev.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer 51 

Rev.  C.  W.  Wendte 58 

Rev.  F.  C  .  Southworth 62 

Dr.  L.  B.  Fisher 64 

Mr  .  Edwin  D  .  Mead 66 

Rev.  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones 68 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING— 
Addresses  by 

Mr.  Isaac  Fisher 74 

Rabbi  Charles  Fleischer 81 

Rev.  Cherles  E.  Beals 89 

ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING— 
Addresses  by 

Rev.  Charles  W.  Wendte Ill 

Mr.  William  Sullivan 123 

Dr.  Frederick  W.  Hamilton 126 

SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING— 
Addresses  by 

Rabbi  Max  Heller 133 

Rev.  Charles  F.  Dole 138 

Rev.  Joseph  F.  Newton 145 

{Contents  continued  on  next  page) 


(EatttrntB  —  Continued 


banquet- 
Dean  George  E.Vincent,  Teaitmaster 

Mrs.  Ella  Flagg  Young 155 

Rev.  Charles  F.  Dole 158 

Miss  Gertrude  Parker  Dingee 160 

Judge  Julian  W.  Mack 161 

Dr.  F.  W.  Hamilton 163 

Mr.  William  Sullivan 164 

Rev.  Edwin  D.  Mead 165 

Mrs.  Celia  Parker  Woolley 168 

Rabbi  Charles  Fleischer 169 

Mr.  Isaac  Fisher 171 

Miss  Jane  Addams  172 

Rev.  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones 173 

ADDITIONAL  ADDRESSES 175-188 

OTHER  THEODORE  PARKER  CELEBRATIONS 189-196 

PRESS  NOTICES 177-210 


QIJj^  imrttotimt 


.-"^^^^HE  following,  with  unimportant 
M  ^^  modifications,  is  the  letter  which  was 
^^^^  sent  to  about  one  hundred  and  seventy 
representative  men  and  women  in  Chicago. 
About  one  hundred  said  "Yes"  (see  following 
call,  page  15),  while  twenty-four  said  "No," 
leaving  some  forty-six  unanswered. 

The  letters  received  were,  of  course,  personal 
and  confidential,  but  the  spirit  that  characterized 
the  entire  correspondence  was  so  significant  that 
we  venture  to  give  some  extracts  of  the  letters 
which  are  the  more  significant  because  written 
without  any  idea  of  pubhcity,  and  which,  when 
printed,  are  the  more  significant  when  removed 
from  the  personalities  involved.  The  few  who 
said  "No,"  represented  as  much  fellowship  as 
the  many  who  said  "Yes."  The  following 
samples  will  be  read  with  interest: 

Dear  Mr. .•      /  am  wondering  whether 

you  would  be  willing  to  lend  your  name  to  the 
following  invitation.  Of  course,  it  would  carry 
wtth  it  no  obligation  of  work  other  than  that  of 
good  will,  setting  forth  the  temper  of  our  city  and 
the  manner  of  men  we  depend  on.  I  am  asking  a 
score  or  more  of  prominent  citizens,  lay  and  clerical, 
men  and  women,  and  your  name  belongs  in  such  a 
list,  according  to  my  thinking. 

Very  cordially  yours, 

Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones. 


IS^ap0«s^j0 


FROM   THE   CLERGY 


"It  gives  me  deep  pleasure  to  sign  the  within  invitation.  The  world 
owes  a  vast  debt  to  Theodore  Parker.  He  was  the  prophet  of  everything 
large  and  catholic  and  beautiful  in  the  religious  consciousness  and  life.  He 
richly  deserves  our  reverence  and   love." 

"Of  course,  my  theological  position  is  not  the  position  of  Theodore 
Parker,  no  more  than  it  is  the  position  of  old  N.  Adams,  who  thought 
him  the  devil  incarnate,  but  a  man  who  does  not  rejoice  in  the  general 
result  of  Parker's  patriotic  and  loyal  devotion  to  the  ideas  which  he  be- 
lieved most  important  is  not  of  my  'crowd.'  You  may  put  me  down,  if 
you  will,  for  one  of  the  'inviters.' " 

"In  the  interest  of  the  advancement  of  all  that  is  good,  denominational 
or  undenominational,  I  will  be  glad  to  sign  such  a  call,  though,  of  course, 
it  does  not  pledge  me  to  the  theological  views." 

"Certainly  you  may  attach  my  name  to  invitation  as  enclosed.  I  am 
sure  I  can  add  nothing  to  it.  It  seems  very  complete.  If  you  know  of 
any  way  in  which  I  can  assist  you,  tell  me.     That's  the  best  I  can  say." 

"I  am  in  harmony  with  this  movement." 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  sign  the  call  to  the  Parker  anniversary,  and  I  will 
get  other  signatures  from  our  church  if  you  want  them.  I  am  sorry  this 
answer  was  delayed,  but  hope  it  is  not  too  late." 

"I  approve  very  heartily  of  the  idea  of  celebrating  in  some  large  and 
fitting  manner  Parker's  centenary." 

"I  am  only  too  happy  to  lend  my  modest  assistance  to  the  very  worthy 
movement  you  are  fostering." 

"I  shall  be  very  glad,  indeed,  to  have  my  name  attached  to  the  invi- 
tation for  the  Theodore  Parker  anniversaries.  Anything  I  can  do  to  help 
make  the  celebration  adequate  I  shall  be  glad  to  do." 

"I  am  honored  by  your  invitation  to  sign  the  call  to  commemorate  the 
courageous  leadership  of  Theodore  Parker.  You  know  that  I  could  not 
help  loving  the  man  who  lived  his  life  and  did  his  work  and  wrote  'O  Thou 
Great  Friend  of  All  the  Sons  of  Men,'  which  we  sing  more  often  at  our 
vesper  service  than  any  other  hymn." 

"I  believe  that  I  shall  have  to  say  no  in  regard  to  the  invitation  for 
the  Parker  centennial.  I  hesitate  to  do  so,  because  I  am  really  shockingly 
ignorant  about  Theodore  Parker.  I  do  not  think  that  I  have  ever  read  a 
dozen  paragraphs  from  him.  I  have  to  decide  on  a  general  impression 
about  him,  that  his  attitude  toward  historic  Christianity  was  pugnacious 
and  bitter.  His  temper,  very  different  from  Channing's,  is  what  has  im- 
pressed me." 

"While  I  am  a  great  admirer  of  Theodore  Parker,  and  in  sympathy 
with  many  things  he  said  and  did,  I  would  be  misunderstood  if  I  should 
sign  the  call  you  enclosed.  Kindly  excuse  me,  and  allow  me  to  attend  as 
many  sessions  as  I  may  be  able  when  the  meetings  are  held." 

"I  could  sign  this  call  for  the  Theodore  Parker  anniversaries  with  joy, 


12 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

and  work  with  you  full-heartedly  to  make  them  successful — all  the  while 
being  in  somewhat  sharp  difference  with  certain  of  the  positions  of  Theo- 
dore Parker,  but  loving  and  honoring  the  great  champion  of  liberty,  the 
great  lover  of  humanity  and   the  great  prophetic   soul." 

"With  absolutely  no  hesitancy,  but  with  a  good  deal  of  joy,  I  sign  the 
inclosed  call." 

"I  much  appreciate  your  invitation  to  serve  on  a  committee  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Theodore  Parker  anniversary,  but  I  am  so  beset  with  many 
undertakings  I  regret  that  I  cannot  have  a  part  in  this.  Wishing  you  all 
success  in  duly  honoring  the  memory  of  this  great  man,  believe  me." 

"Go  ahead  and  do  something  to  honor  the  memory  of  this  great  and 
good  man.  He  was  a  great  vandal  in  the  social  and  theological  world,  but 
the  time  has  modified  his  heresies,  or  rather  his  heresies  have  modified  the 
times,  and  today  yon  do  well  to  accord  him  at  least  a  week  of  appreciative 
study.  1  do  not  care  to  sign  the  invitation,  but  will  co-operate  with  you 
in  any  way  to  help  emphasize  the  social  and  civic  leadership  of  Theodore 
Parker." 

"I  could  not  consent  to  the  use  of  my  name  in  making  such  a  call,  for 
my  conviction  is  that  the  world  would  be  better  off  if  Theodore  Parker 
had  never  lived  nor  written.  His  denial  of  the  fundamentals  of  historic 
Christianity  has,  in  my  judgment,  been  a  curse  to  New  England,  and  all 
who  have  been  influenced  by  it.  The  intellectual  strength  of  the  man  made 
him  all  the  greater  power  for  evil.  I  lived  in  Boston  more  than  five  years 
and  sought  to  study  conditions  in  New  England.  I  heard  Dr.  Hoar,  editor 
of  'The  Watchman,'  say  in  a  public  address,  that  in  the  rural  districts  of 
New  England,  in  which  he  had  spent  his  summers  for  ten  or  twelve  years, 
there  was  a  lower  moral  tone  than  in  the  mining  camps  of  the  West,  and 
my  investigation  confirmed  his  statement.  In  seeking  to  find  the  cause  of 
this  lower  moral  tone  I  was  convinced  that  the  liberalism  which  has  set 
aside  the  autliority  of  the  Bible  and,  indeed,  respect  for  all  authority,  is 
largely  to  blame  for  the  present  conditions.  While  New  England  has 
grown  in  head,  it  has  decayed  at  heart,  through  the  influence  of  the  leaders 
like  Theodore  Parker.  Such  are  my  convictions,  and  I  am  sure  that  one, 
who,  like  you,  believes  in  liberty  of  thought  and  speech,  cannot  blame  me 
for  expressing  them." 

"I  have  your  note  of  September  1,  and  shall  be  more  than  glad  to 
have  you  attach  my  name  to  a  call  for  some  suitable  celebration  of  the 
anniversaries  of  Theodore  Parker,  whose  work  for  religion  and  humanity 
was  of  such  moment  at  the  critical  period  of  our  national  history." 

"I  shall  be  more  than  glad  to  unite  with  you  in  calling  on  the  people  to 
give  an  expression  of  the  debt  which  we  owe  to  the  great  Theodore  Parker. 

"You  can  use  my  name  to  the  invitation  anent  the  Parker  celebration. 
You  can  count  on  me  to  co-operate  with  you  in  the  matter." 

FROM     UNIVF.RSITY    MEN,    PROFESSORS,    PRESIDENTS,    ETC. 

"Although  I  cannot  claim  any  large  acquaintance  with  Theodore  Parker's 
writings,  I  shall  be  glad  to  join  you  in  the  invitation  enclosed  to  me  in 
yours." 

"Your  favor  of  the  25th  of  August  is  received.  Theodore  Parker  rep- 
resents many  ideas  in  which  I  thoroughly  believe,  and  which  I  think  have 
been  extremely  wholesome.  He  represents  also  certain  other  ideas  which 
impress  mc  as  extremely  questionable.  In  any  event,  I  should  hardly  think 
it  advisable  to  be  an  active  agent  in  the  plan  for  the  anniversary." 

"If  it  were  on  the  abstract  proposition,  'Come!  and  let  us  take  note  of 
the  flight  of  time  and  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom,'  I  should  tumble 
over  myself  in  getting  my  name  among  those  who  will  sign  the  call.     I  am 


iExcnittuc  (Eommtttrr 


1.     Rkv.  R.  A.  White        2.    Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones        3.    Jane  Addams 

4.    Adolf  Krads  S.    Julius  Rosenwald 

I).    T.  V.  R.  Ashcroft        7.     Dr.  Emil  G.  Hirsch 


RESPONSES 13 

with  the  movement  and  the  movers  in  everything  except  appreciation  of 
Parker.  I  have  never  been  able  to  appreciate  him  from  an  angle  which 
made  him  look  likeable.  I  have  no  quarrel  with  him,  but  he  simply  never 
has  appealed  to  me.  It  strikes  me  that  he  was  a  congenital  doer  of  the 
right  thing  in  the  wrong  way,  and  that  liberalism  has  progressed  in  spite 
of  him  more  than  because  of  him.  This  is  merely  my  personal  reaction, 
and  I  hope  I  am  wrong.  Maybe  it  is  one  of  my  unregenerate  remainders 
of  Calvinism,  but  Parker  always  seems  to  me  less  a  pioneer  than  a  prig. 
However  that  may  be,  I  don't  shy  at  the  matter,  but  at  the  manner  of  his 
liberalism,  and   if  the  celebration   boosts  the   substance   I   shall  applaud   it." 

"Most  assuredly  I  shall  be  glad  to  lend  my  name  to  the  call  for  the 
Theodore  Parker  celebration.  And  I  feel  much  honored  that  you  consider 
me.  I  will  do  whatever  I  can  to  help  you,  and  shall  hope  to  attend  the 
celebration  in  the  plural  number." 

"I  have  your  kind  invitation  to  join  in  inviting  friends  to  a  study  of 
half-century  progress,  and  to  honor  the  great  preacher  of  righteousness, 
and  statesman,  Theodore  Parker. 

"I  have  no  hesitation  whatever  in  giving  my  name  for  this  purpose 
and,  indeed,  count  it  a  high  honor  to  be  invited.  Of  course,  you  and  all 
others  will  understand,  and  you  especially,  that  this  does  not  carry  with  it 
a  sign  of  agreement  upon  all  points  of  teaching  and  belief,  but  the  nation 
owes  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  to  Theodore  Parker  and  to  those  associated 
with  him,  and  it  would  be  very  unpatriotic  not  to  give  expression  to  it  on 
proper  occasions   like  these." 

FROM    LAY     MEN    AND    WOMEN,    BUSINESS     MEN,    BANKERS,    PHYSICIANS, 
LAWYERS,    ETC. 

"I  shall  consider  it  a  privilege  to  lend  my  name  upon  an  occasion  to 
do  honor  to  Theodore  Parker." 

"I  am  ashamed  to  say  that  I  am  not  very  familiar  with  the  life  work 
of  Theodore  Parker,  but  I  know  that  he  was  neither  a  'standpatter'  nor  a 
reactionary — so  accordingly  I  would  be  very  glad  to  have  you  use  my  name 
and  any  influence  you  can  to  make  it  a  success." 

"I  am  pleased  to  grant  your  request  to  use  my  name  so  suggested, 
and  shall  feel  honored,  indeed,  in  having  it  so  used.  The  most  interesting 
article  I  have  read  this  summer  is  a  commentary  on  the  theology  of  Theo- 
dore Parker  in  a  recent  article  number  of  the  Survey." 

"I  regret  very  much  that  I  do  not  know  as  much  about  Theodore 
Parker  as  I  should.  What  I  do  know,  however,  leads  me  to  believe  that 
a  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  his  birth  and  death  would  serve  a  use- 
ful purpose  in  directing  public  attention  to  the  civic,  economic  and  religious 
questions  to  which  he  devoted  his  life,  and  if  my  name  will  be  of  any 
service  to  you,  you  are  at  liberty  to  use  it-" 

'T  would  say  that  I  am  in  full  sympathy  with  your  suggestion,  and 
have  no  objection  to  the  use  of  my  name  in  connection  therewith." 

"I  am  always  for  any  effort  that  ignores  religious  diff'erences  and  finds 
a  common  ground  for  serving  the  community  and  humanity." 

"I  will  be  glad  to  have  my  name  on  the  invitation  to  the  Parker  cele- 
bration. He  was  a  great  man,  did  a  great  work  that  is  only  now  being 
appreciated.  H  I  can  help  in  making  the  meeting  a  success  I  will  be  glad 
to  do   so." 

"T  appreciate  the  privilege  of  having  my  name  attached  to  the  invi- 
tation which  you  have  sent  me." 

"I  want  to  be  in  the  celebration  of  such  a  good  man  by  such  good  men." 


14 THEODORE   PARKER  ANNIVERSARIES 

"I  have  no  delicacy  in  signing  the  paper  and  in  acknowledging  at  all 
times  my  great  indebtedness  to  Theodore  Parker.  I  have  loved  and  honored 
his  name  and  memory  for  more  than  fifty  years.  I  grew  up  in  a  Presby- 
terian family,  but  when  a  boy  in  college  read  one  of  Parker's  books,  and 
later  everything  of  his  which  was  published — to  my  great  enlightenment. 
He  is  worthy  of  all  the  honor  you  can  bestow  upon  his  name  and  work." 

"I  am  in  sympathy  with  so  many  of  the  principles  advocated  by  Theo- 
dore Parker  that  I  am  very  willing  to  lend  my  name  at  this  time." 

"I  gladly  join  with  you  in  respect  to  the  Theodore  Parker  anniversary." 

"\i  you  think  my  name  would  be  of  any  use  in  your  Theodore  Parker 
enterprise,  you  are  quite  at  liberty  to  use  it.  Ever  since  my  youth  Theo- 
dore Parker  has  been  one  of  my  heroes,  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  identified 
with  your  movement." 

"I  should  be  pleased  to  have  my  name  connected  with  yours  in  any 
good  work  for  the  betterment  of  mankind,  and  more  especially  with  refer- 
ence to  anything  relating  to  the  Theodore  Parker  Anniversaries." 

"Feeling  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  movement,  it  would  give  me  great 
pleasure  to  have  my  name  associated  with  it,  and  you  are  at  liberty  to  use 
it  in  any  way  that  your  judgment  may  dictate." 

"I  consider  it  an  honor  to  have  my  name  attached  to  the  call  for  a 
celebration  of  the  anniversaries  of  Theodore  Parker,  and  cheerfully  agree 
to  its  use  to  that  end." 

"I  am  really  ashamed  to  confess  how  little  I  know  about  Theodore 
Parker,  but  I  believe  he  was  a  truth  seeker,  a  man  of  eloquence,  humanity 
and  courage.  You  are  quite  free  to  append  my  name  to  an  invitation  such 
as  you  suggest." 

"Thank  you  very  much  for  inviting  me  to  be  on  your  invitation  list  for 
the  Theodore  Parker  celebration.  I  am  much  pleased  and  honored  to  ac- 
cept it." 

"I  am  grateful  that  you  should  think  of  me  as  worthy  and  shall  be 
proud  indeed  to  appear  upon  your  list." 

"I  take  it  as  a  privilege  to  join  in  the  call  for  the  Theodore  Parker 
anniversaries.  You  have  my  permission  certainly,  and  1  regard  it  a  com- 
pliment to  have  you  ask  me." 

"I  am  heartily  glad  to  join  in  the  invitation  to  recall  the  value  of  the 
life  of  Theodore  Parker  and  the  impulse  he  gave  to  the  onward  movement 
of  enlightened  conscience.  I  have  a  pity  for  the  young  person  'I  knew  the 
most  about,'  who,  a  half-century  or  more  ago,  thought  the  influence  malign 
which  now  I  recognize  as  most  beneficent.  I  am  grateful  to  his  disciples, 
who  have  borne  aloft  the  torch  he  passed  on  unquenched." 


®I|?  aiaii 


The  undersigned  citizens  of  Chicago  and  vicinity,  irrespective  of  sec- 
tarian lines  and  theological  differences,  unite  in  a  Committee  of  Invitation 
and  Hospitality,  to  co-operate  with  the  officers  of  the  following  national  or- 
ganizations in  a  suitable  celebration  of  the  centennial  of  the  birth  and  semi- 
centennial of  the  death  of  Theodore  Parker,  which  occurred,  respectively,  in 
1810  and  1860:  The  Free  Religious  Association,  organized  in  1867,  with 
headquarters  in  Boston ;  the  Congress  of  Religion,  organized  in  1894,  with 
headquarters  in  Chicago,  and  the  Federation  of  Religious  Liberals,  organ- 
ized in  Philadelphia  in  1908. 

The  half  century  which  has  elapsed  since  Theodore  Parker's  death  has 
greatly  ameliorated  the  theological  animosities  and  sectarian  anxieties  that 
at  the  time  seemed  to  entangle  the  message  and  to  impugn  the  messenger. 
Great  changes  have  come  in  the  thinking  of  religious  men  and  women,  and 
still  greater  changes  in  the  ethical  issues  and  sociological  interests  of  the 
world,  on  lines  indicated  by  the  fundamental  contentions  of  Theodore 
Parker.  His  was  "A  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,"  preparing  the  way 
for  subsequent  advancements,  greater  and  in  many  ways  different  from 
his  highest  hopes,  in  the  fields  of  temperance,  education,  the  rights  of  the 
Negro,  the  cause  of  the  laborer,  the  advancement  of  women,  the  abolition 
of  war,  the  proper  use  of  wealth,  as  well  as  in  the  fields  of  Biblical  studies, 
and  the  sympathies  of  religion.     In  all  these  directions  he  was  a  pioneer. 

Studied  from  this  more  adequate  perspective,  Theodore  Parker  is  now, 
by  common  consent,  acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  great  American  preach- 
ers of  religion,  who  has  over-reached  all  ecclesiastical  bounds,  and  has 
become  one  of  America's  greatest  citizens,  a  noteworthy  leader  of  reform, 
a  prophet  of  civic  righteousness,  economic  justice,  and  the  Universal  Brother- 
hood in  which  his  contentions  were  rooted. 

In  view  of  the  above  considerations,  we  join  in  inviting  the  friends 
everywhere  to  come  and  spend  the  week  from  November  13  to  November 
20,  1910,  inclusive,  to  join  with  us  in  the  study  of  the  "Half  Century 
Progress"  made  on  all  these  lines  as  interpreted  by  such  men  and  women 
of  national  standing  and  ability  as  we  may  be  able  to  secure. 

It  is  hoped  that  many  churches,  schools  and  other  civic  and  religious 
organizations  will  take  note  of  these  anniversaries  in  their  own  way,  and 
that  some  of  the  prominent  speakers  who  will  take  part  in  the  central  pro- 
gram, November  15-17,  may  be  heard  in  many  parts  of  the  city  and  suburbs. 
The  detailed  program  and   further  plans  will  be  duly  announced. 

Again  we  say,  Come  !  and  let  us  take  note  of  the  flight  of  time  and  the 
advancement  toward  the  kingdom  of  Truth,  Righteousness  and  Love,  in  the 
courage  and  strength  of  one  from  whose  opinions  we  may  widely  differ,  but 
in    whose   spirit   of    earnestness    and    helpfulness    we    cordially   unite. 

Rev.  William  T.  McElveen,  Ph.  D.,  Pastor  First  Congregational 

Church,  Evanston,  Illinois. 
Irving  K.  Pond,  Architect. 

Dr.  a.  W.  Harris,  President   Northwestern  University. 
Harold  F.  White,  Attorney. 
John  T.  McCutcheon,  Chicago  Tribune. 
Herbert  L.   Willett,    Dean    Disciples'    Divinity   House,    University 

of  Chicago,  and   Pastor  of  the   Memorial  Church  of  Christ. 
Payson  S.  Wild. 


16 THEODORE    PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

George  C.  Hall,  M.  D. 

George  E.  Hooker,  Hull  House. 

George  R.  Peck,  General  Counsel  C.,  M.  &  St.  P.  Ry.  Co. 

Rev.   Ernest  C.  Smith,  Secretary  Western  Unitarian  Conference. 

Samuel  Alschuler,  Attorney. 

Henry  C.  Lytton,  President  The  Hub. 

W.  Clyde  Jones,  State  Senator. 

Edwin  B.  Tuteur,  M.  D. 

E.  C.  Dudley,  M.  D. 

S.  Laing  Williams,  of  the  Federal  Court. 

H.  S.  Hyman,  Hyman  &  Company. 

Arthur  Meeker,  General  Manager  Armour  &  Co. 

Allen  B.  Pond,  Architect. 

S.  S.  Gregory,  Attorney. 

Mrs.  Emmons  Blaine. 

Julius  Rosenwald,  President  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Co. 

Edward  B.  Butler,  President  Butler  Bros. 

Mrs.  Ella  Flagg  Young,  Superintendent  of  the  City  Schools. 

Alfred  L.  Baker,  Broker. 

Prof.  C.  R.  Henderson,  University  of  Chicago. 

Leroy  a.  Goddard,  President  State  Bank  of  Chicago. 

Charles  L.  Hutchinson,  Vice-President  Corn  Exchange  National 

Bank  of  Chicago. 
Rev.  Edward  S.  Ames,  Chicago  University,  and  Pastor  Church  of 
the  Disciples. 

Edward  Morris,  President  Morris  &  Co. 

Prof.  George  B.  Foster,  University  of  Chicago. 

Mrs.  Mary  A.  Wilmarth. 

F.    Wi    Gunsaulus,    President    Armour    School    of    Technology, 

Pastor   of   Central   Church. 
Lorado  Taft,  Artist. 

Henry  Baird  Favill,  M.  D.,  President  of  City  Club. 
Louis  J.  Block,  Principal  Marshall  High  School. 
W.  G.  Walling,  Secretary  Western  Trust  and  Savings  Bank. 
Joseph  W.  Hiner,  Attorney. 
Hoyt  King,  Attorney. 

Celia  Parker  Woolley,  Frederick  Douglass  Center. 
Thomas   E.   Donnelley,   President  Lakeside   Press. 
Rev.  Joseph  A.  Milburn,  Pastor  Plymouth  Congregational  Church. 
T.   B.   Allinson,   Chicago   Ethical   Society. 
Louis  F.  Post,  Editor  The  Public. 

Mary  E.   McDowell,  University  of   Chicago  Settlement. 
Abram   Hirschberg,  Rabbi   North   Chicago   Hebrew   Congregation. 
Daniel  M.  Lord,  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities. 
Clifford   W.    Barnes,    President    Legislative   Voters'    League    and 

of  the  Sunday  Evening  Club. 
Joseph   Schaffner,  of  Hart,   Schaffner  &  Marx. 
T.   K.   Webster,   President   Webster   Manufacturing  Co. 
R.  A.  White,  D.  D.,  Stewart  Avenue  People's  Liberal  Church. 
M.  R.  Kultcher,  Independent  Button  &  Machine  Co. 
M.  L.  Greeley,  Vice-President  Greeley-Howard  Co. 
Albert  Scheible,  President  Ajax  Material  Co. 
William  C.  Boyden,  Attorney. 
Nathan  B.  Higbie,  Swift  &  Co. 
Sumner  Sollitt,  Contractor. 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Attorney. 
Avery  Coonley. 
Mrs.  Amf.lia  Gere  Mason. 

Arthur  L.  Penhallow,  Hyde  Park  High  School. 
Miss  Jane  Addams,  Hull  House. 


THE  CALL 17 

Tobias  Schanfarber,  Rabbi  K.  A.  M.  Temple. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Head,  Pastor  77th  St.  Church. 

Oliver  W.  Stewart,  State  Senator. 

George  E.  Dawson,  Attorney. 

F.  L.  Barnett,  Assistant  State's  Attorney. 

George  C.  Sikes,  Attorney. 

Rev.  Eugene  C.  Conklin,  Wlestern  Manager  Universalist  Pub- 
lishing House. 

Dr.  Charles  E.  Bentley. 

W.  A.  Evans,  M.  D.,  Commissioner  Department  of  Health. 

John  L.  Whitman,  Superintendent  House  of  Correction. 

W.  E.  Beebe,  Attorney. 

J.  Paul  Goode,  Assistant  Professor  Department  of  Geography, 
University  of  Chicago. 

Prof.  James  H.  Tufts,  University  of  Chicago. 

Rev.  Marcellus  W.  Darling. 

Charles  W.  Lamborn,  Attorney. 

Walter  L.  Fisher,  Attorney. 

Rev.  O.  C.  Helming,  Pastor  University  Congregational  Church. 

Rev.  Joseph  Stolz,  Rabbi  Isaiah  Congregation. 

BiON  J.  Arnold,  Electrical  Engineer. 

Hon.  Merritt  W.  Pinckney,  Judge  of  Circuit  Court. 

Frederic  A.  Delano,  President  Wabash  Railway  Co. 

George  E.  Cole,  Legislative  Voters'  League. 

L.  J.  Lamson,  Board  of  Trade. 

Rev.  John  C.  Jones,  Pastor  Welsh  Presbyterian  Church. 

George  E.  Roberts,  Banker. 

Rev.  Joseph  A.  Vance,  Hyde  Park  Presbyterian  Church. 

Franklin  H.  Head,  President  Chicago  Historical  Society. 

Mrs.  Ellen  M.  Henrotin,  President  Illinois  Industrial  School  for 
Girls. 

Hon.  Julian  W.  Mack,  Justice  Illinois  Appellate  Court. 

Adolph  Kraus,  President  of  the  International  B'nai  B'rith. 

Rev.  Charles   E.  Beals,  Chicago  Peace  Society. 

Prof.  Frederick  Starr,  University  of  Chicago. 

E.  J.  Buffington,   President  Illinois  Steel  Co. 

Rev.  Fred.  V.  Hawley,  Pastor  Unity  Church. 

Rev.  W.  Hanson  Pulsford,  First  Unitarian  Church. 

Francis  F.  Browne,  Editor  of  The  Dial. 

Rev.  August  Dahlgren,  First  Swedish  Unitarian  Church  of  Chi- 
cago. 

Mss.  Coonley-Ward. 

S.  W.  Lamson,  Treasurer  Lincoln  Centre  Board. 

Hon.  Willam  J.  Pringle,  Alderman. 

Rev.  Axel  Lundberg,  Pastor  Swedish  Unitarian  Church. 

Frederick  Greeley,  of  the  Chicago  Play  Ground  Association. 

Dr.  E.  G.  Hirsch,  First  Vice-President  Congress  of  Religion. 

Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  Chairman  Executive  Committee,  Congress  of 
Religion. 


At  a  luncheon  for  the  above  signers,  given  Thursday  noon,  October  13, 
at  which  over  thirty  were  present,  and  cordial  letters  of  regret  and  approval 
were  read  from  most  of  the  others,  practical  plans  were  discussed,  and  the 
chair  was  authorized  to  appoint  the  necessary  committees  on  program,  pub- 
licity, finance,  hospitality,  etc.  Due  announcement  of  the  progress  of  the 
work  was  published  from  time  to  time. 


18 


THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 


3Ernm  X\\t  Aimanrg  OJommttt^r 


To  the  Pastors  and  Trustees  of  Churches,  the  Presidents  of  Schools  and 
Colleges,  the  Officers  of  Civic,  Literary  and  other  Clubs,  and  Repre- 
sentatives of  all  other  Organisations  devoted  to  human  welfare  and 
progress. 

Dear  Friends  : 

The  undersigned  officers  of  national  organizations  join  with  the  hundred 
and  more  citizens  of  Chicago  represented  in  the  accompanying  invitation  in 
asking  the  friends  of  civic  progress,  humanitarian  helpfulness  and  religious 
freedom  everywhere,  to  unite  with  us  in  the  celebration  of  the  centennial  of 
the  birth  and  the  semi-centennial  of  the  death  of  Theodore  Parker,  a  great 
citizen  of  the  United  States  who  contended  for  progress  on  many  lines. 
Delegate  representatives  from  any  organizations  included  in  the  above  list 
are  cordially  invited  and  will  be  heartily  welcomed.  It  is  hoped  that  the 
churches,  clubs,  schools  and  other  civic,  educational  and  religious  organi- 
zations in  Chicago  and  vicinity  will  take  steps  to  arrange  for  their  own 
meetings  in  their  own  way.  The  following  speakers  are  expected  to 
be  in  attendance  and  take  part  in  the  central  program,  which  will  be  arranged 
for  November  15,  16  and  17.  They  represent  the  material  from  which  local 
programs  can  be  enriched. 

Arrangement  for  a  large  popular  banquet  has  been  made  to  be  given  at 
the  Auditorium  Hotel  ($1.50  per  plate),  on  Thursday  evening,  November 
17,  and  those  desiring  to  secure  places  at  the  tables  are  requested  to  com- 
municate at  as  early  a  date  as  possible  with  Mr.  Adolph  Kraus,  chairman  of 
banquet  committee,  143  Dearborn  street,  that  the  necessary  arrangements  can 
be  made.  Fuller  announcement  of  the  details  of  these  meetings  will  be  given 
from  time  to  time. 

All  correspondence  with  regard  to  programs  should  be  addressed  to  the 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  named  below.  All  information  to 
and  for  the  press  should  be  addressed  to  Theodore  Van  R.  Ashcroft,  312 
Record-Herald  Building,  Secretary  of  Publicity. 

Charles  W.  Wendte,  25  Beacon  St.,  Boston,  President  Free  Religious 
Association. 

Emil  G.  Hirsch,  3612  Grand  Blvd.,  Chicago,  Acting  President  Congress 
of  Religion. 

Henry  W.  Wilbur,  140  North  15th  St..  Philadelphia.  President  National 
Federation  of  Religious  Liberals. 

Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre,  Chicago,  Chairman  Exec- 
utive Committee. 


Advisory  Cotnmittee  appointed  by  the 
Committee    of   One   Hundred. 


Charles  L.  Hutchinson, 
Julian  W.  Mack, 
James  H.  Tufts, 
Clifford  W.  Barnes, 
Alfred  L.  Baker, 
D.  M.  Lord, 
[  Rev.  Charles   E.  Beals. 


Aliittfi0ry  (Eiimmittrr 


1.    C.  L.  Hutchinson  2.    Jas.  H.  Ti'fts  3.    A.  L.  Baker 

4.    Rev.  Chas.  E.  Beals  5.    D.  M.  Lord 

6.    Clifford  W.  Barnes        7.    Julian  Mack 


THE  PROGRAM 


19 


Prngram 


THEODORE  PARKER  ANNIVERSARIES. 
1810-1860-1910. 


Centennial  of  Birth  ;  Semi-Centennial  of  Death. 

Held  in  Chicago  and  vicinity  under  the  auspices  of  the  Free  Religious  Asso- 
ciation, The  Congress  of  Religion,  and  the  National  Federation 
of  Religious  Liberals,  in  response  to  an  invitation  of 
a  Committee  of  One  Hundred  Citizens. 


Sunday,  November  13,  1910. 

Forenoon:      Auditorium    Central   Church,    Wabash    Avenue    and    Congress 
Street,  11  a.  m.     Sermon  by  Dr.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus. 
Sinai  Temple,  corner  Indiana  Avenue  and  Twenty-first  Street, 

10  a.  m.     Dr.  Chas.  Fleisher  of  Boston. 

Isaiah  Temple,  Forty-fifth  Street  and  Vincennes  Avenue,  Jo- 
seph Stolz,  Rabbi,  11  a.  m.  Address  by  Prof.  H.  C.  Maitra 
of  Calcutta. 

Church  of  the  Redeemer,  Warren  Avenue  and  Robey  Street, 

11  a.  m.     Sermon  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  A.  Eugene  Bartlett. 
Unity  Church,  Hinsdale,  Rev.  W.  H.  Spence.     Sermon  by  the 

pastor. 
Abraham    Lincoln    Centre,    Oakv^'ood    Boulevard    and    Langley 

Avenue,  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  Minister,   11   a.  m.     Address 

by  Edwin  D.  Mead. 
People's  Liberal  Church,  Stewart  Avenue  and  West  Sixty-fifth 

Street,   Rev.   R.   A.   White,    Pastor,    10:30   a.  m.      Sermon 

by  the  pastor. 

Afternoon  :     First  Congregational  Church  of  Evanston,  Rev.  W.  T.  McEl- 
veen.  Pastor,  4:30  p.  m.     Rabbi  Chas.  Fleischer  of  Boston. 

Evening:  Sunday  Evening  Club,  Orchestra  Hall,   168  Michigan  Avenue, 

Clifford  W.  Barnes,  Chairman,  8  p.  m.  Address  by  Rev. 
Charles  F.  Carter  of  Hartford,  Conn. 
University  Congregational  Church,  Madison  Avenue  and 
Fifty-sixth  Street,  under  the  auspices  of  a  committee  con- 
sisting of  Prof.  Tufts,  and  Revs.  Helming,  Ames  and 
Pulsford,  8  p.  m.  Speakers:  Edwin  D.  Mead  of  Boston 
and  Prof.  H.  C.  Maitra  of  Calcutta. 

Monday,  November  14,  1910. 

Noon:  Outlook  Club,   C.   .A.   Osborne,   Secretary,  at  University  Club, 

7   Monroe   Street,    12:30  p.   m.     Address  by   Prof.    H.    C. 
Maitra  of  India,  and  others. 


20 


THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 


Tuesday,  November  IS,  1910 

Forenoon:  Religious  Study  Class,  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre,  10:30  a.  m. 
Address  by  Mrs.  Martha  Parker  Dingee,  niece  of  Theo- 
dore Parker.     Personal  reminiscences. 

Evening  :  Sinai  Temple,  Indiana  Avenue  and  Twenty-first  Street,  open- 
ing session  of  central  program,  8  p.  m..  Dr.  Emil  G.  Hirsch, 
presiding  officer.  Addresses  by  the  Chairman,  Edwin  D. 
Mead  of  Boston,  on  "The  Higher  Patriotism";  Prof. 
George  B.  Foster,  University  of  Chicago,  on  "The  Deeper 
Religious  Life  Necessitated  in  the  Changing  Order,"  and 
Rev.  Charles  Francis  Carter,  on  "Theodore  Parker's 
Doctrine  of  Human  Nature." 

Wednesday,  November  16,  1910 

Forenoon:  Hull  House  Auditorium,  800  South  Halsted  Street,  Miss  Jane 
Addams,  presiding,  10:30  a.  m.  Speakers:  Revs.  Anna 
Garlin  Spencer.  "The  New  Center  of  Gravity  in  Philan- 
thropy: A  Resume  of  the  General  Trend  in  Social  Uplift 
Since   Parker's   Day,"   C.   W.   Wendte   and   others. 

Afternoon  :  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre,  Oakwood  Boulevard  and  Langley 
Avenue,  vrelcomed  by  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  2  p.  m.  Ad- 
dress by  Lsaac  Fisher,  President  Branch  Normal  Col- 
lege, Pine  Bluff,  Ark.,  "Has  the  Negro  Kept  Faith  with 
Theodore  Parker  and  the  Other  Brave  Souls  Who  Suf- 
fered for  Freedom's  Sake?"  Rabbi  Heller  of  New  Or- 
leans and  Rev.  Charles  E.  Beals,  "Fifty  Years'  Growth 
Away   from  War." 

Evening  :  St.  Paul's  Universalist  Church,  Prairie  Avenue  and  Thirtieth 

Street,  Rev.  Lorenzo  D.  Case,  Pastor,  8  p.  m.  Rev. 
Charles  W.  Wendte  of  the  Free  Religious  Association, 
presiding,  will  give  the  opening  address  on  "Theodore 
Parker  the  Man,  with  Personal  Reminiscences."  Rev. 
William  Sullivan  of  Kansas  City  on  "Spiritual  Message 
of  Liberalism  to  Modernism."  Dr.  Frederick  W.  Hamil- 
ton, President  of  Tufts  College. 
Reception  to  visiting  friends  and  delegates  in  the  chapel 
will   follow. 

Thursday,  November  17,  1910 

Forenoon  :      Free  for  further  planning. 

Afternoon  :  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre,  Oakwood  Boulevard  and  Langley 
Avenue,  2  p.  m.,  Dr.  R.  A.  White  presiding.  Speakers : 
Rev.  Charles  F.  Dole  of  Boston,  on  "Theodore  Parker 
and  the  Office  of  the  Prophet  in  Modern  Times."  Rev. 
Joseph  F.  Newton  of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  on  "Theodore 
Parker  and  Lincoln."  Rev.  Charles  Fleisher,  on  "The 
Growth  of  Universal  Religion." 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Northwestern  University,  Evanston,  4  p.  m. 
Address  by  Edwin  D.  Mead. 

Evening:  Auditorium  Hotel,  Michigan  Avenue  and  Congress  Street,  6:30 
p.  m.  Banquet,  Prof.  George  H.  Vincent,  toastmaster. 
Eminent  speakers  selected   from  above   list,  and   others. 

Friday,  November  18,  1910 

Evening:         Fellowship  Club  at  Unity  Church,  Oak  Park,  6  p.  m.   Speakers: 

Revs.  C.  W.  Wendte  and  C.   E.   Beals. 

Frederick  Douglass  Center,  3032  Wabash  Avenue,  Rev.  Celia 

Parker  Woolley  presiding,  7  :30  p.  m.     Reception  to  Isaac 

Fisher,  President  Branch  Normal  College,  Pine  Bluff,  Ark. 


THE  PROGRAM  21 


Sunday,  November  20,  1910 

Afternoon  :     Frederick  Douglass  Center,  4  p.  m.    Rev.  Isaac  Fisher,  speaker. 
Congregational  Church,  Winnetka,  4  p.  m.     Rev.   Charles  W. 
Wendte,   speaker. 


THEODORE  PARKER  ANNIVERSARIES. 
1810—1860—1910. 


i§xhtx  at  g»mitre 


Sunday,  November  13,  1910. 
Organ  Program— 

"Grande   Offertoire  in   D" Batiste 

"Evening  in  the   Mountains" Grieg 

"Angelus"   Liszt 

(Mr.  Edgar  A.  Nelson.) 

Anthem— "The  Radiant  Morn  Hath  Passed  Away" Woodward 

(The  Chorus.) 
DoxoLOGY — The  audience  standing. 
The  Lord'.s  Prayer — All  uniting. 

Anthem — "The  King  of  Love  My  Shepherd  Is" Shelley 

(Mrs.  Gannon,  Wr.  Green  and  the  Chorus.) 
Scripture   Reading — By    Mr.    Charles    L.    Hutchinson,    Chairman    Advisory 

Committee  Theodore  Parker  Anniversaries. 
Prayer — By  Professor  Graham  Taylor,  Warden   Chicago   Commons   Social 
Settlement. 

Anthem— "Even   Me"    Warren 

(Mr.  Green  and  the  Chorus.) 
Announcements — By  the  President  of  the  Club. 
Offertory  Solo— "Be  Thou  Faithful  Unto  Death"  (St.  Paul) .  .Mendelssohn 

(Mr.  John  B.  Miller.) 
Reading — Theodore  Parker's  Hymn,  by  Mr.  Robert  A.  Woods,  Head  Worker, 

South  End  Settlement,  Boston. 
Hymn  38—         Hopkins 

O  thou  great  Friend  to  all  the  sons  of  men. 
Who  once  appeared  in  humblest  guise  below, 

Sin  to  rebuke,  to  break  the  captive's  chain. 
To  call  thy  brethren  forth  from  want  and  woe, — 

Thee  would  I  sing:  thy  truth  is  still  the  light 
Which  guides  the  nations,  groping  on  their  way. 

Stumbling  and  falling  in  disastrous  night, 
Yet  hoping  ever  for  the  perfect  day. 

Yes:  thou  art  still  the  life;  thou  art  the  way 
The  holiest  know, — light,  life  and  way  of  heaven ; 

And  they  who  dearest  hope  and  deepest  pray. 
Toil  by  the  truth,  life,  way,  that  thou  hast  given. 

Theodore  Parker,  1846. 


22 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Addresses —        "Chicago's  Tribute  to  Theodore  Parker,"  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones, 
LL.    D.,    Chairman    Executive    Committee    Theodore    Parker    Anni- 
versaries. 
"Theodore  Parker's  Theology  and  Vital  Conception  of  Religion,"  Rev. 
Charles  F.  Carter,  D.  D.,  Park  Congregational  Church,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Benediction — By  Professor  Graham  Taylor. 

Organ  Postlude — . . . .  "Canzonetta  del  Salvatore  Rosa" Liszt 

(Mr.  Nelson.) 


®Ijf  ®rrl|f 0tra  ffall  Mettin^ 

i^unbag  Etirmttg,  Nnnrmber  13.1010 


THE  ORCHESTRA  HALL  MEETING  25 


Pastor  of  Park  Congreeational  Church,  Hartford,  Conn. 


THEODORE  PARKER'S  DOCTRINE  OF 
HUMAN  NATURE. 

Two  chief  reasons  have  led  me  to  share  this  commemorative 
service.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  pay  tribute  to  a  religious  thinker,  who 
brought  sincerity  and  conviction  to  his  task  and  whose  contribu- 
tion was  vital  and  profound.  Especially  do  I  welcome  this  oppor- 
tunity, because,  standing  in  another  wing  of  the  great  Congrega- 
tional body,  I  look  for  the  day  when  the  schism  of  the  past  shall 
be  done  away  in  a  view  of  religion  large  enough  to  embrace  the 
truth  and  pure  enough  to  avoid  the  errors  on  both  sides  of  that 
unfortunate  controversy. 

To-night,  it  seems  wise  to  confine  ourselves  mainly  to  one 
section  of  Theodore  Parker's  teaching,  in  which  lay  his  most 
vital  contribution  to  religion,  both  as  thought  and  life.  The  high- 
est tribute  one  can  pay  to  any  man  is  to  embody  his  convictions 
m  one's  own  life.  This  is  the  practical  motive  I  would  share  with 
you  to-night;  not  panegyric,  but  fellowship  in  thought  and  earnest 
purpose. 

One  of  the  most  important  teachings  of  Theodore  Parker  was 
his  doctrine  of  human  nature.  He  believed  that  man  is  constituted 
to  know  God ;  by  knowing  God  he  discovers  the  ideal  of  his  own 
life;  committing  himself  to  that  ideal,  he  attains  real,  genuine 
manhood.  This  was  a  vehement  reaction  against  the  current  doc- 
trine of  total  depravity  with  all  its  blasting  influence.  Parker  said, 
"When  a  little  boy,  I  used  to  hear  ministers  say  that  the  natural 
man  did  not  love  God,  but  I  was  sure  the  natural  boy  did."  How 
fine  the  testimony  to  the  sincere  desire  in  the  youthful  heart  for 
that  relation,  which  was  to  prove,  in  after-life,  the  vital  impulse 
both  to  his  thought  and  character.  This  doctrine  of  normal  man- 
hood presents  a  working  faith  of  highest  potency.  The  knowing 
God,  of  which  he  spoke,  was  not  a  speculative  knowledge,  but  per- 
sonal and  experimental.  Parker  was  called  "infidel"  and  "atheist," 
but  few  have  been  the  men  who  could  say  with  such  strength  of 
affirmation,  'T  am  very  sure  of  God,  as  sure  of  him  as  of  my  own 
existence."  The  proof  of  this  conviction  is  also  within  our  souls. 
We  may  not  prove  the  existence  of  God  by  a  logical  demonstration ; 
indeed,  that  is  not  the  method  on  which  to  rely,  but  we  may  and 
do  find  the  unmistakable  witness  of  His  presence  within.  We 
know  Him  in  the  divine  quality  that  solicits  our  recognition  and 
devotion.  These  words  have  meaning  to  every  man:  truth,  justice, 
love.     We  know  what  it  is  to  lie,  to  do  a  mean  act,  to  be  angry 


26 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

and  to  hate.  We  know  God  is  against  these  things.  We  know 
their  opposites,  and  God  is  for  them.  Something  in  the  universe, 
bigger  than  we  are,  yes,  big  as  the  universe  itself,  stands  for  truth, 
for  right  and  good  will,  and  stands  thus  forever.  You  and  I  know 
it.  and  that  is  the  rock-bottom  for  faith. 

In  man,  thus  capable  of  knowing  God,  Parker  saw  the  dis- 
tinctive mark  of  his  manhood.  This  meant  that  without  the  growth 
and  mastery  of  this  power,  life,  in  its  fullness,  would  never  come. 
Man  is  not  known  to  himself  or  to  others  until  religion,  this  con- 
nection between  himself  and  God,  becomes  the  master-power.  The 
old  Greek  thinker,  Aristotle,  helped  Parker  to  this  truth,  yet  you 
and  I  have  known  it  in  a  hundred  forms.  The  thorn-bush  is  culti- 
vated for  the  sake  of  the  flower  it  will  produce,  and  until  we  have 
the  rose  with  its  sumptuous  beauty  and  fragrance,  the  bush  itself 
is  not  justified.  We  plant  the  apple-tree  for  the  fruit  it  may  yield ; 
the  cow  is  fed  and  sheltered  that  she  may  give  milk ;  the  horse  is 
groomed  and  trained  for  his  speed.  Unless  each  form  of  life  de- 
velops the  quality  appropriate  to  it,  it  is  rejected,  while  it  finds  its 
real  value  in  the  fullest  development  of  these  peculiar  qualities. 
In  similar  vein,  we  estimate  the  worth  of  manhood  in  the  distinc- 
tive quality  which  is  spiritual.  If  this  fails  of  development,  then 
we  must  regard  the  individual  as  an  instance  of  arrested  growth 
and  as  a  failure  in  complete  manhood. 

Parker  knew  that  this  spiritual  capacity  was  rudimentary.  His 
view  was  no  deifying  of  what  we  ordinarily  call  human  nature. 
He  did  not  loosely  say  that  all  men  were  divine.  He  recognized 
the  capacity,  but  the  capacity  bore  with  it  responsibility  for  use 
and  development,  and  the  capacity  unused  he  would  consider  a 
reproach,  rather  than  an  honor.  Nor  was  his  an  easy-going  counsel 
to  follow  the  course  of  nature.  There  is  a  truth  in  connection  with 
this  phrase  that  has  often  been  seized  in  a  sentimental  way,  robbing 
it  of  virility,  perverting  it  almost  into  a  lie,  and  missing  the  force 
of  its  real  meaning.  For  the  significance  of  it  centers  in  the  con- 
scious life,  where  man  discovers  the  higher  law  of  his  being  and 
by  means  of  it  begins  to  assume  mastery  over  the  lower  and  merely 
instinctive. 

This  doctrine  of  religion  as  truly  normal  to  the  soul,  is  fitted 
to  stir  a  man  to  an  ennobling  sense  of  responsibility.  It  is  at  the 
point  of  conscious  recognition  of  truth  as  absolute,  justice  as  com- 
manding, love  and  good-will  as  imperative,  that  we  come  in  con- 
tact with  God,  and  only  in  the  determined  eflfort  to  make  these 
qualities  prevail  in  ourselves  and  others  do  we  really  share  the 
divine  life. 

Parker  was  equally  convinced  that  this  spiritual  germ  and 
potency  of  life  must  and  could  be  developed.  To  this  high  task 
he  summoned  men.  His  doctrine  is  altogether  practical.  It  is 
level  to  the  facts  of  our  experience.  We  may  begin  right  where 
we  are  and  with  what  we  have.     Within  the  hour  you  will  meet 


THE  ORCHESTRA  HALL  MEETING 27 

the  summons  to  this  higher  life  in  God  as  surely  as  Saul  ever  met 
it  on  the  Damascus  way.  A  selfish  desire  may  stir  within  your 
heart  and  athwart  that  desire  you  will  hear  a  quiet  voice,  saying, 
"It  is  not  right."  Heed  this  summons  to  your  soul.  It  is  God 
calling  you  to  come  out  and  be  a  man. 

This  truth  we  are  considering  is  also  weighty  with  imperative 
urgency  and  solemn  with  the  power  of  reproof.  It  paints  no  pict- 
ures of  a  hell  with  torture,  but  it  holds  the  mirror  up  to  nature 
and  cries  "shame"  upon  him  who  unworthily  bears  His  name.  It 
affirms  that  men  without  the  spiritual  faculty  developed  and  in 
use  are  unformed  men,  and  if  they  grow  strong  in  other  ways,  they 
are  deformed ;  without  soul-power  there  is  essential  lack. 

This  profound  article  of  faith  abounds  in  inspiration ;  indeed 
it  is  the  recognition  that  life  provides  for  inspiration  and  that  the 
inflowing  of  divine  power  is  normal  to  the  soul.  God  is  with  us 
and  available  for  use.  This  is  no  fiction  or  dream  of  the  imagina- 
tion, but  the  sober  fact.  For  years,  men  had  no  doubt  that  the 
power  of  Niagara  was  capable  of  enormous  work;  the  difficulty 
was  in  making  the  connection,  but  now  the  immense  volume  of  that 
stream  has  been  so  harnessed  that  there  is  daily  demonstration  of 
its  practical  worth.  Men  have  doubted  about  God,  but  the  way 
to  overcome  the  doubt  is  to  make  connection  between  the  soul  and 
Him.  The  point  of  contact  is  made  in  the  sense  of  truth,  of  right 
and  of  love,  and  through  these  convictions  the  divine  power  be- 
comes available  and  operative.  Truth  and  right  and  love  are  go- 
ing to  win.  Each  one  of  us  may  help  and  may  share  the  victory, 
or  we  may  hold  aloof,  oppose  and  go  down  to  defeat,  for  lying 
and  deceit  and  selfishness  are  doomed  to  failure. 

Hence  this  doctrine  of  manhood  carries  the  guarantee  of  ?. 
real  success.  When  one  has  chosen  this  manner  of  life,  he  has  be- 
come a  full-fledged  man  and  has  determined  his  own  progressive 
character.  Here  is  the  heart  of  the  gospel  written  in  the  consti- 
tution of  the  universe  and  of  man  himself.  God  becomes  a  reality 
to  you  and  me  when  on  our  side  by  deliberate  choice  we  confirm 
the  bond  he  has  established  between  us.  With  the  urgency  of  a 
real  evangelist  Theodore  Parker  pressed  home  upon  men  their  re- 
sponsibility  for  the  fulfillment  of  life  in  co-operation  with   God, 

While  this  message  has  its  most  direct  bearing  on  the  indi- 
vidual and  the  questions  of  his  welfare,  it  is  no  less  important  in 
its  social  bearmg  and  for  our  industrial  democracy.  Everything 
at  last  comes  back  to  the  individual.  All  social  problems  are  prob- 
lems of  you  and  me.  Better  men  and  women,  coming  to  our  man- 
hood, are  the  real  solvents  of  social  trouble.  The  individual  be- 
coming one  with  his  brother,  because  he  is  already  one  in  spirit 
with  his  God  is  the  vital  factor  in  all  our  needs.  Only  as  we  are 
sons  of  God  is  our  brotherhood  of  any  worth,  for  brotherhood  de- 
pends on  sonship,  and  cannot  be  a  vital  thing  without  it.  The 
things  that  make  a  first-class  world  are  honesty  and  justice  and 


28 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

good-will,  and  these  spring  from  the  soul  of  the  individual.  Here 
is  the  open  secret  of  Utopia.  Here  is  the  task  fit  for  the  noblest. 
Thus  does  the  central  message  of  Theodore  Parker  confirm 
the  great  commonplaces  of  religion,  which  are  also  the  great  im- 
peratives of  manhood,  and  the  unfailing  inspirations  of  life.  His 
message  opens  to  a  great  loyalty.  His  ancestor,  Capt.  John  Parker, 
stood  on  Lexington  Green  and  spoke  the  famous  command,  "Stand 
your  ground ;  don't  fire  until  fired  upon,  but  if  they  mean  to  have 
a  war,  let  it  begin  here."  He  embodied  the  spirit  of  those  who  are 
standing  against  oppression  and  injustice  for  the  political  liberty 
of  mankind.  In  the  same  spirit,  his  descendant,  resenting  the  tra- 
ditions that  hampered  the  free  growth  of  the  soul,  outraged  by 
the  imposition  of  outworn  and  antiquated  ideas,  stood  with  a  cour- 
age as  firm  and  a  spirit  as  noble  against  the  limitations  of  error, 
m  order  that  he  might  liberate  the  soul  in  the  atmosphere  of  truth 
to  the  glorious  liberty  of  sonship  under  God. 

By  the  depth  of  his  conception  he  newly  defined  our  generic 
name.  Let  us  open  our  dictionaries  and  write  a  fresh  definition. 
What  stands  now  against  this  term?  "Man,  one  of  the  genus 
homo,  a  member  of  the  human  race."  Write  again,  "man,  a  being 
who  knows  God  and  who  undertakes  to  live  a  godlike  life,"  and 
let  us  be  content  with  no  lower  standard.  There  is  this  name  by 
which  each  one  of  us  is  called.  Let  us  read  into  it  its  true  and 
amplest  meaning.  Let  us  exalt  it  as  a  sign  and  patent  of  nobility, 
dismissing  the  unworthy  perversions  of  our  nature,  renouncing 
the  easy  way  that  may  be  specious  but  is  spurious  and  half-fledged, 
and  taking  the  royal  way  of  discipline,  of  obedience,  of  self-con- 
quest and  sacrifice,  if  need  be,  regarding  this  name,  as  Theodore 
Parker,  apostle  of  the  divine  constitution  of  men,  held  it,  as  each 
one  in  his  conscience  knows  it  to  be,  and  as  God,  the  infinite  Father, 
has  graciously  created  and  fashioned  it.  With  all  earnestness  and 
energy  and  joy,  let  us  strive  in  reliance  on  the  power  that  worketh 
in  each  one  to  be  a  man. 


Sr.  Smtl  (g.  iJlirarlj.  PrrHtbing 
a^MMbag  En^ ning,  SJntiptnbrr  15. 1910 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 31 

Tuesday  Evening  Session,  November  15,  1910 


DR.  E.  G.  HIRSCH,  Presiding 


Dr.  Hirsch  :  Friends,  it  is  with  more  than  pleasure  that  I 
welcome  you  to  this  house  in  the  name  of  those  to  whom  it  has 
been  very  many  years  a  spiritual  homestead.  Over  our  portals  is 
the  welcome  uttered,  from  the  unknown  and  great  prophet  of  cap- 
tivity, "My  house  shall  be  a  house  of  prayer  unto  all  nations." 

The  word  "prayer"  is  not  an  exact  rendition  of  the  Hebrew 
word  used  by  the  prophet  himself;  the  Hebrew  term  implies  much 
more  than  the  act  of  worship  or  of  adoration  or  petition,  suppli- 
cation, in  the  words  of  worship  accented.  Prayer,  according  to 
the  underlying  idea  in  the  Hebrew  world,  is  the  humble  realization 
on  the  part  of  man  of  a  great  and  glorious  work  manifest  in  the 
Universe,  and  is  also  an  expression  of  the  kinship  of  man  to  that 
power  of  which  the  universe  is  the  visible  expression,  and  in  that 
sense  we  have  been  trying  here  to  be  a  house  of  prayer.  We  have 
been  strongly  in  sympathy  with  all  that  makes  for  a  nobler  human- 
ity, the  deeper  appreciation  of  the  unity  of  the  race,  and  being  in 
this  sympathy,  we  felt  that  we  were  never  out  of  harmony  with 
the  fundamental  appeals  of  our  religion  which  came  to  us  by  way 
of  transmission  from  our  ancestors. 

It  may  sound  strange  to  many  of  you,  and  yet  it  is  the  truth, 
that  with  perhaps  one  single  exception,  Judaism  has  never  known 
heretics,  has  never  excluded  them.  There  is  no  power  that  can 
brand  any  Jew  to-day  a  heretic,  and  the  only  one  that  can  bar  a 
Jew  from  the  fellowship  of  Judaism  is  the  Jew  himself.  H  he 
declares  himself  no  longer  to  be  one  of  that  community,  then  in- 
deed he  is  perhaps  looked  upon  as  standing  without — and  even 
this  is  not  so  certain.  The  single  exception  was  Spinoza,  but  those 
who  excommunicated  him  had  learned  their  lesson  from  others 
than  the  teachers  of  Judaism,  they  had  come  from  Spain  and 
they  applied  to  the  great  thinker  the  methods  of  dealing  with 
prophets  of  new  thought  copied  from  what  they  had  seen  al- 
most every  day  in  the  land  that  had  expelled  them.  And,  strange 
irony,  after  many  centuries,  two  only,  not  so  many,  students  of 
Jewish  literature,  developers  of  Jewish  thought,  discovered  that 
never  was  there  a  better  exposition  of  the  universal  conception  of 
Judaism  than  had  been  given  to  the  world  by  Spinoza,  and  that 
every  one  of  his  thoughts  regarded  as  heretical  had  been  antici- 
pated, in  substance,  by  another  Jewish  thinker,  who  never  was  de- 
nounced as  a  heretic. 


32 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Therefore,  in  Judaism,  Theodore  Parker  could  not  have  been 
placed  beyond  the  pale  of  the  church.  Of  course  in  this  tem- 
ple and  also  in  every  Jewish  synagogue  where  there  has  come 
knowledge  of  the  great  life  and  the  sacred  motives  of  the  life  of 
this  at  one  time  lonely  prophet  of  New  England,  his  name  is  hon- 
ored in  the  estimation  of  those  who  heed  his  message,  as  one  shining 
with  that  light  of  which  the  Good  Book  says,  it  shall  not  be  eclipsed, 
but  which  shall  shine  on    forever  and  aye. 

And  so  in  the  name  of  my  congregation  I  bid  you  welcome; 
in  the  spirit  we  are  made  one,  whatever  may  be  the  historical  con- 
ditions that  mark  us.  I  am  very  glad  that  the  first  word  of  interpre- 
tation will  be  spoken  by  Mr.  Mead  of  Boston,  the  great  champion 
of  universal  peace,  who  has  done  so  much  service  in  the  cause 
of  civilization  and  of  enlightenment. 

I  take  pleasure  in  presenting  to  you  the  first  speaker  of  the 
evening,  Mr.  Mead, 


Boston,  Massachusetts 


THE  HIGHER  PATRIOTISM 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Friends :  It  is  an  auspicious  thing  that  this 
meeting  is  held  in  this  Jewish  temple.  I  think  it  would  have  been 
peculiarly  grateful  to  Parker  himself.  I  could  not  but  remember, 
as  Dr.  Hirsch  spoke  in  his  impressive  way  of  honoring  Parker,  of 
the  peculiar  honor  in  which  Parker  held  the  Old  Testament,  which 
constitutes  three-quarters  of  the  Christian  Bible.  Some  of  you  will 
remember  that  Parker,  in  his  analysis  of  the  Bible,  dwelt  specially 
upon  the  literary  power  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  he  pro- 
nounced greater  than  the  literary  power  of  the  New.  That  was 
not  only  an  illustration  of  Parker's  freedom — it  was  an  illustration 
of  his  critical  discrimination ;  because,  however  great  the  Christian 
may  hold,  however  great  I  hold,  the  beauty  of  the  New  Testament 
revelation,  I  do  feel  with  Parker  that  the  literary  power  of  the 
Psalms  and  of  the  Prophets  is  a  power  incomparable.  I  am  glad 
that  we  meet  to-night  in  this  Old  Testament  temple. 

If  Parker  was  a  great  religious  teacher,  he  was  also  a  great 
social  reformer,  a  great  politician,  in  the  best  sense  of  that  term — 
a  great  citizen.  Were  he  here,  I  suspect  he  would  chide  us  for 
making  any  separation  between  the  two,  for  implying — as  in  truth 
I  do  not  mean  to  do — that  the  politician  is  not  a  part  of  the  true 
religious  teacher;  and  in  this  he  could  have  found  no  other  illus- 
tration so  sublime  as  that  of  the  old  Jewish  prophets.  For  it  be- 
comes us  always  to  remember  that  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  and  Micah 
and  Amos  and  all  of  that  illustrious  galaxy  do  not  find  their  mod- 
ern analogies  so  much  in  the  church,  in  the  pulpit,  as  in  Garrison 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 33 

and  Phillips  and  Sumner  and  Henry  George,  the  great  social  re- 
formers of  the  time. 

Theodore  Parker  as  a  citizen  and  patriot  it  is  of  whom  I  have 
been  asked  especially  to  speak.  As  a  patriot  and  citizen  he  would 
have  found  in  his  own  Puritan  ancestors,  our  New  England  fathers, 
another  illustration  of  this  same  idea  of  the  common  province  of 
politics  and  religion.  The  Puritan  was  not  only  a  reformer  in 
religion,  he  was  a  reformer  in  politics.  Wherever  Puritanism  went 
in  that  great  day,  to  Geneva,  to  Holland,  to  Scotland,  to  the 
English  Cambridge,  or  into  the  American  wilderness,  it  went  to 
transform  politics  as  well  as  religion.  The  Puritan  meeting-house 
was  the  place  where  the  Puritan  prayed  on  Sunday  and  where  he 
voted  on  Monday;  religion  and  politics  went,  with  the  Puritan, 
hand  in  hand.    And  so  it  was  with  the  Puritan,  Parker. 

When  one  speaks  of  the  higher  patriotism  of  Theodore  Parker, 
or  the  patriotism  of  any  modern  man,  we  remember  that  declara- 
tion of  Emerson's  that  he  almost  hesitated  to  use  the  word  "patriot- 
ism," because  it  is  a  term  so  much  abused,  its  true  sense  being  al- 
most the  opposite  of  popular  usage.  "I  hate,"  says  Emerson — I  quote 
from  memory — "that  boyish  egotism  which  shouts  itself  hoarse  for 
one  party,  for  one  state,  for  one  town.  True  patriotism  is  the  satis- 
faction which  one  feels  in  contributing  one's  own  peculiar  and  legitir 
mate  national  advantage  for  the  benefit  of  mankind." 

How  does  that  definition  comport  with  the  "patriotism"  over 
which  in  America,  and  in  every  country  of  the  modern  world,  men 
still  shout  themselves  hoarse — the  satisfaction  which  one  feels  in 
contributing  one's  own  peculiar  and  legitimate  advantage  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind? 

That  defines  Theodore  Parker's  patriotism;  that  was  his  stand- 
ard, and  the  determining  of  what  sort  or  degree  our  patriotism  is 
depends  upon  our  standard.  The  higher  patriotism  is,  if  you  please, 
a  problem  in  the  "higher  criticism."  We  use  the  word  "criticism" 
too  much  in  its  aspect  of  censure.  The  critic  does  not  simply  cen- 
sure; the  critic  praises — and  the  wise  and  great  critic  generally 
praises  more  than  he  censures.  Criticism  is  the  application  to  any 
case  of  a  high  and  true  standard ;  it  is  the  determination  of  what  is 
higher  and  what  is  lower;  and  as  concerns  patriotism  it  is  the 
effort  to  hold  the  country  to  the  higher,  to  hold  it  to  what  is  truest 
and  best  in  its  ideals,  and  keep  it  from  that  lower  thing  to  which 
it  is  always  in  danger  of  becoming  degraded  by  the  efforts  of  petty, 
passionate,  ignorant  and  selfish  men. 

The  lower  patriotism  shouts  itself  hoarse  over  "My  country, 
right  or  wrong,"  with  a  passion  that  throws  the  country  into  some 
false  attitude  and  makes  it  wrong;  and  the  lower  patriot  always 
shouts  for  the  passion  which  has  been  aroused  and  becomes  pre- 
dominant with  the  mob.  The  lower  patriotism  is  a  blind  and  obtuse 
patriotism  which  can  never  learn.  It  travels  the  world  over  simply 
to  say  everywhere  "America  is  good  enough  for  me."    If  it  goes  to 


34 THEODORE   PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

Berlin,  to  Zurich  or  Geneva  it  finds  nothing-  from  which  to  learn 
how  American  municipal  affairs  can  be  better  administered.  If  it 
watches  English  political  procedure  it  sees  nothing  by  which  it 
should  learn  that  this  is,  in  very  much,  vastly  more  democratic  than 
our  own.  It  travels  over  the  world  with  eyes  blind  to  all  things 
which  remind  it  of  any  inferiority  at  home.  That  is  the  lower 
patriotism.  It  was  not  the  patriotism  of  Arnold  of  Rugby,  who 
said :  "The  measure  of  my  love  for  every  institution  is  the  measure 
of  my  desire  to  reform  and  improve  that  institution." 

Emerson  said :  *'The  good  man  will  not  obey  the  laws  too  well." 
Did  he  mean  anarchy?  Did  he  mean  lawlessness?  He  meant  that 
there  is  a  higher  law,  an  ideal  high  above  every  statute  which  up  to 
date  has  been  enacted,  and  that  every  man  with  higher  ideals  is 
constrained  to  discontent  and  to  the  work  of  leading  his  people 
upward  into  conformity  with  that  higher  ideal. 

'Tn  a  bad  state,"  Aristotle  said  two  millenniums  before,  "the 
good  man  is  a  bad  citizen."  He  meant  that  he  is  the  citizen  who 
is  the  accuser,  who  is  the  censor,  who  is  unwilling  to  cry  peace, 
peace,  in  a  condition  of  things  where  peace  is  not  the  chief  desid- 
eratum and  where  reform  is  the  thing  imperative. 

That  was  the  attitude  forever  of  Theodore  Parker.  If  he  some- 
times "went  too  far" — and  concede  that  he  did  sometimes  go  too 
far,  measured  in  cold  blood — there  are  times  possibly  when  most 
men  who  are  in  dead  earnest  suffer  from  inflammation  of  the  con- 
science— a  too  rare  disease — but  if  such  as  Theodore  Parker  ever 
do  "go  too  far,"  it  is  because  they  are  captured  and  led  by  the 
higher  law  with  a  mighty  power.  It  was  because  Theodore  Parker 
was  on  fire  with  the  higher  law  that  he  rebuked  Webster  as  he  did 
in  1850.  It  was  because  he  was  captured  and  entranced  by  the 
higher  law  that  Whittier  wrote  "Ichabod."  By  and  by,  in  cooler 
blood,  he  made  a  certain  atonement  by  "The  Lost  Occasion."  But 
do  we  deplore  the  writing  of  "Ichabod"  ?  It  was  because  he  was 
entranced  by  the  higher  law  that  Emerson  wrote  of  Webster,  in 
awful  severity,  "Every  drop  of  his  blood  has  eyes  that  look  down- 
ward." It  was  because  all  were  so  nobly  sensitive,  so  desirous  that 
the  great  Republic  should  be  kept  sensitive  to  the  demands  of  the 
higher  law,  and  our  politics  made  to  conform  in  some  decent  degree 
to  our  religion.  It  was  because  Theodore  Parker  was  thus  sensitive 
to  the  higher  law,  precisely  because  he  was  so  good  a  patriot, 
because  his  vision  of  what  this  Republic  ought  to  be  was  so  lofty, 
that  he  was  unwilling  that  we  should  be  guilty  of  things  which 
might  more  easily  be  overlooked  in  nations  whose  pedigree  and 
principles  were  not  so  sacred  and  commanding  as  our  own. 

The  great  sin  of  his  time,  the  great  wrong  which  peculiarly 
menaced  then  the  fair  name  and  the  influence  and  moral  life  of 
the  Republic,  was  the  sin  of  slavery.  To  every  time  comes  pecu- 
liarly some  great  and  commanding  cause ;  and  to  his  generation 
came  the  command  to  put  a  stop  to  man-selling,  as  to  our  own,  as 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 35 

Mr.  Carnegie  impressively  said  to  a  body  of  students  the  other  day/ 
comes  the  command  to  put  a  stop  to  man-killing, 

"Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 
In  the  strife  of  truth  with  falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side. 
Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the  bloom 

or  blight, 
Parts  the  goats   upon  the  left  hand  and  the  sheep  upon  the 

right, 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  'twixt  that  darkness  and  that 

light." 

Slavery,  the  war  against  slavery,  was  the  issue  which  came  to 
Theodore  Parker's  generation ;  and  it  found  Theodore  Parker  the 
most  powerful  of  all  men  in  pulpits — and  I  do  not  forget  Henry 
Ward  Beecher ;  I  do  not  forget  William  Ellery  Channing — it  found 
Theodore  Parker  the  most  powerful  of  all  men  in  pulpits  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  great  sin  and  wrong  which  gnawed  at  the  vitals  of  the 
Nation's  life.  As  Garrison  fought  slavery  with  the  newspaper, 
and  Phillips  on  the  platform,  and  Sumner  in  the  Senate,  and  Whit- 
tier  in  song,  and  Mrs.  Stowe  in  "Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  and  John 
Brown  on  the  scaffold,  and  Lincoln  by  and  with  the  power  of  the 
State,  so  Parker  above  all  men  fought  it  in  the  pulpit ;  and  he  left 
behind  a  great  body  of  solemn  arraignment  of  that  terrible  sin 
which  is  almost  unequaled  in  its  thoroughness,  in  its  power,  and  in 
its  statesmanship.  You  know  well  here  in  Lincoln's  Illinois  that  it 
struck  the  note  for  Lincoln  himself,  in  its  moral  power  and  in  its 
precision.  No  other  anti-slavery  thinker,  as  one  of  your  western 
scholars  is  showing  us  in  new  detail,  affected  Lincoln  more  deeply. 
It  is  impressive  indeed  to  study  those  two  volumes  of  Parker's  anti- 
slavery  sermons  and  addresses,  now  brought  together  in  the  new 
edition  of  Parker's  works,  which  is  the  greatest  monument  to 
Parker  in  this  commemorative  time,  and  note  their  learning,  their 
logic  and  their  might. 

The  great  fight  with  slavery,  in  which  as  a  patriot  and  as  a 
religious  teacher  he  took  so  conspicuous  a  part — in  that  fight  with 
slavery  he  saw  his  country  dragged  into  another  of  the  great  evils 
which  still  constantly  menaces  nations,  the  wrong  with  which  we 
to-day  are  especially  called  upon  to  do  battle — the  frightful  evil 
of  an  unjust  war  waged  by  a  strong  nation  upon  a  weak. 

I  say  the  commanding  cause  of  our  time  is  the  war  against 
war,  as  the  commanding  cause  of  Parker's  and  Lincoln's  time  was 
the  war  against  slavery.  And  Parker  had  occasion  not  only  to 
fight  war  in  general,  as  a  universal  evil,  but  to  fight  it  concretely 
and  particularly  in  the  iniquitous  war  of  his  own  time — the  Mexi- 
can war.  Almost  every  one  of  those  great  anti-slavery  men  were 
valiant  warriors  in  the  war  against  war  itself.  Garrison  declared 
that  he  felt  that  evil  to  be  the  greater  and  more  pervasive  of  the 
two,  and  lamented  that  the  exigencies  of  the  time,  commandmg  his 


36 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

absorption  in  the  struggle  with  slavery,  left  him  so  little  place  to 
cope  with  it.  It  was  in  the  war  against  war,  and  not  in  the  war 
against  slavery,  that  Charles  Sumner  began  his  public  career,  in 
his  famous  address  in  1845  on  "The  True  Grandeur  of  Nations." 
You  remember  Sumner  said  that  the  greatest  service  that  the 
Springfield  arsenal  ever  did  for  the  United  States  was  in  inspiring 
that  solemn  poem  of  Longfellow's  upon  the  shame  of  a  condition 
that  made  it  possible,  almost  two  millenniums  after  Christ,  that  men 
should  still  have  arsenals  and  be  settling  their  differences  with 
guns  and  swords, 

"Were  half  the  power  that  fills  the  world  with  terror, 
Were  half  the  cost  bestowed  on  camps  and  courts. 
Given  to  redeem  the  human  mind  from  error. 
There  were  no  need  of  arsenals  and  forts." 

Theodore  Parker,  the  patriot,  the  lover  of  his  country,  the  man 
who  desired  to  make  his  country  contribute  of  its  peculiar  and 
legitimate  advantage  to  the  benefit  of  mankind,  launched  his  mighty 
word  against  that  terrible  evil  also.  As  one  reads  Parker's  address 
upon  War,  upon  the  everlasting  menace  of  military  despotism, 
upon  the  waste  and  wickedness,  the  injustice  and  the  folly  of  war, 
the  peace  advocate  to-day  feels  that  he  has  almost  no  new  thing 
to  say,  so  thorough,  so  comprehensive  and  cogent  is  Parker's  ad- 
dress. One  needs  to  supplement  the  reading  of  that  address,  for- 
ever applicable  in  the  war  against  war,  with  the  concrete  illustra- 
tion furnished  by  Parker's  address  at  Faneuil  Hall,  in  the  midst 
of  the  Mexican  War,  when  soldiers  with  guns  and  bayonets  were 
stationed  in  the  hall  itself  to  watch  for  "treasonable"  utterances. 
He  went  further  even  than  General  Grant  went  when,  at  the  end 
of  his  life,  he  denounced  that  war,  in  which  as  an  obedient  soldier 
he  had  taken  part,  as  one  of  the  most  iniquitous  wars  ever  waged 
by  a  strong  nation  against  a  weak.  It  is  the  attack  of  a  big  boy 
upon  a  little  boy,  said  Theodore  Parker,  and  the  worst  part  of  it 
is  that  the  big  boy  is  a  bully  and  the  little  boy  is  right.  That  is 
'what  he  would  have  said  had  he  been  here  ten  years  ago  and  found 
this  great  nation  bullying  the  people  of  the  Philippine  Islands, 
struggling  for  their  liberty  and  independence;  he  would  have 
spoken  the  word  needed  in  this  time  as  he  spoke  the  word  needed 
in  that.  And  nothing  would  have  drawn  his  critical  word  more 
directly  than  the  tendencies  which  we  see  all  about  us,  unhappily 
in  the  United  States  as  well  as  in  Germany  and  in  England,  to  make 
this  century  of  ours,  which  should  be  the  most  enlightened  and 
the  most  orderly  and  peaceful  of  centuries,  that  which  is  peculiarly 
distinguished  by  the  burden  of  its  monstrous  and  ever  increasing 
armaments, 

I  read  in  one  of  your  Chicago  papers  yesterday  an  editorial 
article  upon  the  guaranty  of  peace,  in  which  the  solemn  deliverance 
was  made  that  we  had  a  great  guaranty  of  peace — and  that  there 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 37 

was  in  the  long  run  no  other — in  the  fact  that  we  had  a  big  navy 
and  that  it  was  now  known  well  all  around  the  world  that  tiie  men 
behind  our  guns  could  shoot  straighter  than  the  men  behind  any- 
body else's  guns !  Now,  Theodore  Parker  would  have  told  this 
newspaper  that  a  great  nation  should  find  its  chief  defense — and 
should  rely  upon  it — in  enlightenment  and  in  righteousness,  in  the 
confidence  in  its  justice  and  good-will  which  it  had  solidly  built 
in  the  family  of  nations.  Said  your  newspaper  yesterday :  "There 
will  be  no  war  with  Mexico  because  Mexico  knows  that  it  cannot 
face  the  United  States."  But  England  in  1895  knew  very  well  that 
it  was  vastly  superior  to  the  United  States,  which  had  then  prac- 
tically no  navy  at  all.  Yet  there  was  no  war,  not  because  of  any 
matter  of  better  shooting  or  more  guns  and  gunboats,  but  because 
both  nations  were  reasonable  nations  and  acted  reasonably  and 
like  gentlemen.  It  was  in  the  acting  like  gentlemen  that  Theodore 
Parker  trusted  in  international  relations,  calling  upon  the  United 
States,  as  a  true  citizen  and  as  a  patriot,  for  that  thing;  and  we 
need  to  remember  his  strong  service  in  the  great  cause  of  our  own 
time,  as  we  remember  his  strong  service  in  response  to  the  special 
Messiah  of  his  time.  In  righteousness  and  justice  he  found  the 
true  safeguard  of  nations — in  enlightenment  and  righteousness 
and   education. 

I  read  with  pleasure  a  little  while  ago  the  report  of  an  im- 
pressive address  by  the  able  president  of  your  Illinois  University, 
upon  the  vital  need  of  wiser  and  more  generous  provision  for  edu- 
cation in  this  nation.  He  called  attention  to  the  terrible  lack  of 
education  among  the  negroes  of  the  South,  to  the  terrible  lack  of 
education  among  the  poor  whites  of  the  South,  and  to  the  other 
pressing  needs  of  education  all  through  the  United  States ;  and 
referring  to  the  inadequate  provision,  he  called  attention  to  the 
startling  figures  that  we  are  hearing  now  so  often,  although  they 
have  not  yet  stirred  the  country  as  they  should  to  the  depths,  which 
reveal  the  fact  that  we  are  spending  to-day  seventy  per  cent  of  our 
national  resources  annually  for  military  purposes,  to  meet  the 
cost  of  past  wars  and  of  imaginary  future  wars,  with  but  thirty 
per  cent  left  to  the  nation  for  all  its  constructive  purposes.  The 
republic  which  is  guilty  of  this  waste  and  folly,  and  guilty  also 
of  such  neglects  in  education,  is  standing  on  its  head.  It  needs 
a  Theodore  Parker  to  say  this  with  adequate  energy  and  adequate 
wrath. 

Theodore  Parker,  among  his  many  addresses  bearing  upon  the 
political  and  social  life  of  this  country,  gave  none  that  were  no- 
bler, none  that  were  wiser,  than  those  upon  public  education.  In 
studying  those  addresses,  one  remembers  the  reinforcement  which 
Parker  gave  to  Horace  Mann  during  Mann's  great  campaign  in 
New  England  for  better  public  schools.  Like  Mann,  so  Parker 
called  attention  always  to  the  fact  that  there  could  never  be  a  reali- 
zation of  the  gospel  of  democracy  save  as  democracy  is  made  and 


38 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

kept  enlig-htcned,  intelligent  and  disciplined.  Things  will  go  on 
well  for  a  time ;  they  will  at  least  go  on  somehow,  where  men  get 
some  other  man  to  exercise  kingship  for  them,  if  that  other  man 
is  royally  educated ;  but  when  people  undertake  to  do  their  own 
kingship,  then  there  must  be  royal  training  of  the  people  to  keep  th^ 
leader  and  the  led,  who  are  one,  from  falling  into  the  ditch.  In 
facing  our  critical  problems  to-day,  greater  far  than  those  which  the 
Republic  has  faced  before,  we  may  yet  turn  profitably  to  the  teach- 
ings of  Theodore  Parker  in  those  noble  addresses  of  his  upon  pub- 
lic education.  We  need  to  magnify  the  teachers  and  the  scholars 
of  the  country.  Parker's  high  definition  of  the  function  of  the 
American  scholar — the  American  Scholar  was  the  subject  of  one 
of  the  noblest  of  his  addresses,  as  it  was  also  the  subject  of  one  of 
the  noblest  of  Emerson's  addresses,  the  first  of  his  important  ad- 
dresses, and  the  burden  of  both  is  the  same — is  based  upon  the 
scholar's  great  obligation.  The  scholar  is  in  debt  to  his  country 
and  mankind  for  the  invaluable  things  which  have  come  to  him,  his 
sacred  inheritance,  the  wisdom  of  the  ages.  The  open  and  con- 
structive mind  is  the  greatest  gift  and  the  greatest  power  which 
can  come  to  the  scholar ;  to  maintain  such  is  his  distinctive  duty. 
It  is  upon  the  scholar,  the  student,  the  teacher,  the  man  of  thought, 
that  Theodore  Parker  calls  to  redeem  the  time  and  to  redeem  the 
Republic. 

There  is  hardly  any  urgent  cause  which  afifects  society,  which 
affects  the  Republic  in  our  day  as  it  affected  it  in  his,  for  which 
Theodore  Parker,  in  such  addresses  as  those  in  the  volume  upon 
"The  Sins  and  Safeguards  of  Society,"  does  not  furnish  us  the 
word  that  is  still  a  solvent  word  and  still  necessary. 

We  heard  from  the  State  of  Washington  the  other  day  that 
by  a  vote  of  two  to  one  it  has  been  there  decreed  that  women's 
rights  in  politics  should  from  now  on  be  recognized  in  that  State. 
We  shall  hear  more  such  news.  When  Theodore  Parker  lived, 
when  he  began  his  preaching  in  Boston — that  was  a  time  when 
not  only  did  no  woman's  college  exist  in  the  world,  when  the 
higher  education  in  any  institution  was  not  possible  to  woman, 
but  when  no  girl  could  have  a  high  school  education  in  Boston.  It 
was  in  that  time,  not  in  ours,  that  Theodore  Parker  gave  his 
searching  address  upon  the  Public  Function  of  Woman,  which  is 
still  abreast  of  the  most  advanced  thought  of  the  day  in  the  move- 
ment for  the  higher  rights  and  duties  of  woman. 

There  was  an  International  Prison  Congress  in  Washington 
the  other  day,  and  almost  every  word  that  was  there  spoken  touch- 
mg  the  relation  of  punishment  to  crime  was  the  same  word  that 
was  spoken  by  Theodore  Parker  sixty  years  ago.  So  of  his  ad- 
dresses upon  the  mercantile  classes,  the  laboring  classes,  the  dan- 
gerous classes,  the  perishing  classes.  Among  all  these  addresses, 
covering  the  problems  of  our  own  time  still,  none  is  more  contem- 
poraneous than  his  admonition  to  the  privileged  mercantile  classes, 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 39 

with  their  strong  and  so  often  determining  control  in  the  church, 
in  legislation,  and  in  social  life. 

He  reinforced  his  gospel  by  the  appeal  to  our  noble  past. 
Among  his  noblest  addresses  were  those  upon  the  great  founders 
of  the  republic.  The  Englishman,  Trevelyan,  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  in  the  early  American  congresses  the  four  men  of  chief 
influence  and  power  were  Washington,  Franklin,  Adams  and  Jef- 
ferson— the  very  subjects  of  Parker's  lectures  upon  "Historic 
Americans,"  though  I  hardly  think  that  Trevelyan  knew  at  all  that 
they  were  the  same  men  from  whom  Parker  chose  to  draw  lessons 
for  the  Republic  to-day. 

He  wished  to  have  this  Republic  stand  by  its  principles  and 
become  a  missionary  nation,  carrying  the  principles  of  its  founders, 
the  principles  of  democracy,  into  every  field  whither  the  influence 
of  the  nation  at  this  hour  can  go.  I  wish  that  every  one  of  you 
might  read  again  Parker's  prophetic  address  upon  the  Destination 
of  America,  as  you  read  again  Emerson's  Fortune  of  the  Republic. 

When  Li  Hung  Chang,  the  great  Chinese  statesman,  visited 
this  country,  he  went  to  Mount  Vernon ;  and  as  he  came  to  the 
grave  of  Washington  he  knelt  and  in  silence  prayed,  while  his 
friends  who  had  brought  him  there  stood  silently  by.  Long  after- 
wards he  was  asked  for  what  he  prayed  at  the  grave  of  Washing- 
ton, and  he  said  he  prayed  that  if  the  doctrine  of  reincarnation  be 
indeed  true,  the  next  incarnation  of  George  Washington  might 
find  its  place  and  its  influence  in  awakening  China. 

Theodore  Parker  would  tell  us  at  this  time,  as  China  is  stretch- 
ing out  her  hands  to  us,  as  Russia  is  in  revolution,  as  the  whole 
world  is  waking  up  under  the  pressure  of  larger  problems  and 
higher  calls,  that  if  we  wish  to  see  the  fundamental  principles  of 
America  ever  reincarnated  and  brought  to  new  power  again  and 
again  in  the  world,  then  we  must  see  to  it  that  those  principles  are 
kept  bright  and  strong  in  their  pristine  purity  and  virtue,  that  this 
country  is  kept  worthy  of  its  founders,  true  to  their  principles,  and 
true  to  those  high  ideals  which  alone  constitute  a  proper  and  a  use- 
ful patriotism. 


40 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Doctor  Hirsch  :  We  shall  listen  to  two  more  addresses,  each 
calculated  to  be  about  twenty-five  to  thirty  minutes.  The  next 
speaker  certainly  has  a  message  to  deliver  in  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  our  commemorative  exercises.  Prof.  George  B.  Foster 
will  talk  to  us  now 


University  of  Chicago 


THE    DEEPER    RELIGIOUS    LIFE    NECESSITATED    BY 
THE  CHANGING  ORDER. 

Nature  has  places  and  periods  of  storm.  So  has  social  and 
civil  life.  So  has  the  human  soul.  You  have  observed  the  brew- 
ing and  pilgrimage  of  a  storm  among  the  mountains.  At  first  a 
troubled  sky;  clouds  chasing  each  other.  Then  the  winds  descend 
and  sweep  along  the  mountain  range.  Solitary  trees  on  the  loftier 
ledges  of  rock  bend  and  break.  In  a  moment's  time  the  storm  is 
rushing  and  roaring  in  the  depths  of  the  forests,  swaying  the  trees 
as  the  ocean  a  ship.  You  look  again  and  it  has  plunged  out  into 
the  open  field,  into  orchard  and  grain,  filling  home  and  village  with 
fear  and  awe  everywhere ! 

So  there  are  places  and  periods  of  storm  in  nature.  In  our 
human  historic  life  you  find  the  same. 

The  first  Christian  community  began  in  storm.  It  stirred  the 
world  up.  It  began  with  plain  folk  who  had  a  living  religious- 
ness. Next  it  began  to  interest  scribes  and  priests.  The  waves 
broke  against  the  walls  of  the  temple  and  the  palace  of  the  high 
priest.  Then  the  tide  rolled  out  into  the  wide,  wide  world  of  the 
gentiles.  The  synagogues  of  Palestine,  Syria,  Asia  Minor  were 
agitated.  The  homes  on  the  back  alleys,  the  workshops  of  the  cap- 
itals of  Asia  and  Europe,  occasionally  the  palaces  of  the  nobility, 
were  astir  with  the  new  life.  Presently  the  movement  reached  the 
officials  of  the  Roman  state,  and  climbed  the  golden  throne  of  the 
emperor,  even.  The  ivhole  ivorld  had  to  take  notice !  Every  man, 
filled  with  the  new  spirit,  showed  that  storm  had  arisen  in  his  life — 
something  neiv,  a  breach  was  experienced.  Seized  with  a  great 
new  hope  and  imperative,  he  was  strong  enough  to  face  the  scorn 
and  persecution  of  the  world ;  to  welcome  death  for  the  sake  of 
his  cause.  All  this  was  something  that  the  placid,  cultured,  clever 
folk  could  ridicule,  but  could  not  understand.  All  this  was  the 
most  audacious,  most  radical  thing  that  the  world  knew  at  that 
time.  And  the  world  said  that  these  new  people  were  crazy,  atheis- 
tic; were  conspirators  against  churches  and  states  of  historic  peo- 
ples ;  and  the  world  soon  found  that  crosses,  and  torches,  and  teeth 
of  lions  were  good  enough  for  these  storm  people,  as  they  had 
ever  been  good  enough  for  prophets  of  God,  from  of  old.     Every- 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 41 

thing  had  been  so  tranquil  and  proper  and  regular  in  the  churches 
of  the  old  religion.  Their  priests  punctually  offered  their  offer- 
ings, their  scholars  learnedly  interpreted  sacred  books  and  sacred 
oracles ;  they  enjoyed  all  sorts  of  theological  controversies ;  their 
vocation  was  piety  just  as  yours  might  be  law,  or  golf,  or  the  mati- 
nee— controversies  in  which  the  people  had  as  little  interest  as  you 
have  to-day — the  poor,  burdened,  silent  people — the  people  needing 
and  craving  a  kingdom  of  God  that  did  not  consist  in  cult  and 
theological  harangue,  but  in  power,  truth  and  spirit.  And  the  need, 
the  craving  was  met. 

Suddenly — it  was  storm — some  common  men  from  the  com- 
mon people — men  with  a  living  religion,  strode  through  the  land. 
Untheologically,  clumsily  often,  but  always  masterly,  they  told 
what  they  had  experienced ;  what  filled  and  fired  them.  Men  heark- 
ened and  a  fellozvship  of  the  spirit  of  the  living  God  arose.  In- 
stead of  a  dead  church-and-Bible  religion,  a  personal,  living  re- 
ligion !  God  became  a  living,  progressive,  rejuvenating  reality  to 
them. 

And  in  the  new  spirit,  men  became  brothers.  A  new  com- 
posite community  arose  from  the  most  diverse  and  antagonistic 
elements — bound  together  in  the  new  brotherhood.  The  Master 
sat  down  at  a  feast  of  love  with  the  slave;  the  pure  woman  sat 
beside  the  outcast;  the  philosopher  associated  with  the  artisan  that 
could  not  read  or  write.  One  language,  one  spirit.  A  new  spirit 
wove  all  the  vari-colored  threads — prepossessions  of  sex  and  race — 
wove  and  interwove  athwart  all  previous  unions  and  boundaries 
and  schisms — into  one  web  of  a  higher,  holier  and  human  life — 
such,  ever,  has  been  the  way  of  the  spirit.  Wherever  it  blows, 
there  are  times  of  storm,  the  tongue  of  flame,  the  speech  which  all 
understand — the  spirit  which  unites  all  who  are  of  good  will. 

Theodore  Parker  was  a  man  of  storm.  Aye,  he  could  say  with 
old  Ossian,  "I  am  alone  and  on  the  hills  of  storm !"  With  his 
Leader  of  old  he  could  cry:  *T  am  come  to  kindle  a  fire  upon  the 
earth;  I  am  come  to  root  out  every  plant  my  heavenly  Father  hath 
not  planted ;  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptized  with,  and  how  am  I 
straitened  till  it  be  accomplished.  To  this  end  was  I  born  and  for 
this  cause  am  T  come  into  the  world,  that  I  might  bear  witness  to 
the  truth." 

What  did  Theodore  Parker  want?  Back  of  everything  else 
what  is  the  meaning  of  that  tumultuous  spirit  which  burst  like  an 
apocalypse  upon  an  inert  and  stormless  church  and  society?  It 
meant  deepest  of  all  a  violent  sundering  from  the  dead  God  of  his 
day,  for  gods  die  as  well  as  men.  It  meant,  next,  the  radical  re- 
lease of  personality  from  all  the  fetters  of  the  strong  living  codes  of 
a  provincial  and  petty  morality  which  tithed  ecclesiastical  and  civic 
mint,  anise  and  cummin,  but  neglected  the  weightier  things  of 
the  law — justice  and  judgment  and  faith.  It  meant  the  growth, 
the  release,  the  sovereignty  of  the  individual  soul  over  against  a 


42 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

mass  of  religion.  It  meant  new  standards  for  discrimination  be- 
tween right  and  wrong.  With  his  new  God  and  new  man,  both  the 
God  and  the  man  democrats,  he  saw  that  the  black  man  was  man 
too.  With  his  sense  of  the  worth  of  personality,  with  his  demo- 
cratic God  and  democratic  man  against  the  old  monarch  with  his 
elect  saints  and  subjects,  there  could  be  no  special  privileges  as  an 
ideal  for  Theodore  Parker — but  there  could  be  man's  finest  and 
highest  dream,  the  spiritual  freedom  of  the  indivilnal  within  the 
common  brotherhood  of  all  men.  In  one  sense  the  foe  of  rebellion, 
yet,  on  account  of  the  great  insurrection  of  his  inner  life  against 
the  letter  that  kills,  against  stupid  and  dead  externalities,  on  ac- 
count of  his  sovereign  proclamation  of  the  eternally  personal, 
Theodore  Parker  was  the  great  rebel  of  his  age.  He  unleashed  a 
mighty  dynamic.  He  was  a  man  of  storm.  He  lunged  against  the 
old  order  as  Voltaire  did  against  the  Middle  Ages,  and  each,  storm- 
like, foreshortened  the  collapse  of  the  old,  probably  a  whole  cen- 
tury. Each  was  the  genius  and  apostle  of  disrespect ;  to  each  re- 
spectability was  the  one  disgrace ;  popularity  the  only  perdition — 
unlike  as  the  two  men  were  in  so  many  ways. 

You  ask:  Are  such  virtuosos  of  the  iconoclastic  art  a  blessing 
to  humanity?  Of  course  that  depends  upon  the  man  and  the  age. 
In  a  given  period  the  deposit  and  debris  of  prejudice  and  precon- 
ception may  be  piled  up  so  high  that  there  is  need  of  some  Hercu- 
lean power  to  clean  out  the  Augean  stables  of  the  reactionary  and 
the  obsolete.  When  current  opinions  are  wilting,  widespread  forms 
of  faith  decaying,  worm-eaten  institutions  mouldering,  then  it  is  a 
painful  thing  to  see  the  branches  of  the  existing  culture-system 
slowly  shed  its  leaves.  But  a  violent  storm  comes  and  sweeps 
away  over  night  what  has  already  had  its  day  and  ought  to  be  out 
of  the  way.  And  we  welcome  the  hurricane — those  great  personali- 
ties whom  the  philosopher  Hegel  called  the  beacons  of  the  human 
race,  who  frequently  rise  up  with  the  violence  of  a  hurricane.  No 
melancholy  transitions  filling  the  atmosphere  with  cadaverous  odors 
for  them — your  Henry  Ward  Beechers,  your  Wendell  Phillipses, 
your  William  Lloyd  Garrisons,  your  Theodore  Parkers ! 

But  we,  we  to-day?  Storm  and  fire  are  not  necessary  any 
more,  perhaps?  There  is  no  conflict  any  more  between  the  Eter- 
nal Spirit  and  status  quo,  perhaps?  Ah,  my  friends,  we  know 
that  this  is  not  so.  Scarcely  a  year  passes  that  the  war-cloud  does 
not  darken  some  sky  and  the  roar  of  the  cannon  shake  some  con- 
tinent. Mammon  still  lays  its  deadly  hands  upon  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  men.  Unnatural  and  inhuman  conditions  of  modern  life 
are  scarcely  second  to  the  rottcnest  era  of  old  Rome.  In  ever  new 
forms  the  war  between  master  and  slave  billows  back  and  forth  in 
every  modern  city.  To-day  still,  the  simplest  truths  of  the  eternal 
gospel  fight  for  their  existence  in  head  and  heart. 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 43 

Ought  there  not  to  be  storm  and  fire — the  venturesome  ends 
of  moral  knighthood?  Disquietude  in  the  presence  of  the  squalor 
and  misery  and  wrong  of  the  world? 

But  let  me  specify.  There  is  our  religious  and  ecclesiastical 
condition.  Think  of  our  sectarianism.  It  is  an  open  secret  that  it 
has  no  right  light  and  no  right  truth  any  more,  because  the  pre- 
suppositions out  of  li'hich  it  arose  in  those  old  days  no  longer  exist; 
because  those  old  controversies  either  have  been  disposed  of,  or 
have  been  left  behind;  and  the  new  day  with  entirely  ne^y  battles 
is  before  us.  But  what  do  we  see?  Instead  of  drawing  the  proper 
conclusions  from  this,  namely,  give  up  the  old,  and  adapt  ourselves 
to  the  new  work — instead  of  doing  this  we  act  as  if  the  dead  were 
still  living,  cherish  the  old  partisanism,  and  even  aggravate  it  on 
all  sides.  How  miserable  our  ecclesiastical  and  religious  life  has 
become  in  this  way !  The  secret  competition  of  tendencies  and 
clergymen,  which  ripens  such  sorry  fruit;  the  stupid  separation  of 
the  congregations  that  ought  to  be  together ;  the  influence  of  very 
worldly  and  selfish  factors  upon  the  innermost  things  of  life;  the 
corruption  which  partisan  ambition  leads  to — what  is  so  needful  as 
that  we  should  repent  of  these  things  ?  The  pettiness  and  feebleness 
of  ecclesiastical  life,  alternating  with  professional  and  periodic  re- 
vivalism, which,  like  the  vice  of  which  Robert  Burns  sings,  is  sure 
to  "harden  all  within  and  petrify  the  feelings" ;  the  humiliation 
which  often  now  attaches  to  the  ministerial  office — who  does  not 
grieve  over  these  things  ?  More  violent  storms  are  going  to  break 
upon  our  church  and  religious  life  if  these  things  are  not  settled, 
and  settled  right.  And  we  must  become  greater  men  in  order  that 
we  may  meet  the  issues  and  cope  with  them.  The  world  is  too  full 
of  deep  problems  and  dangers  to  have  time  any  more  for  the  petty 
and  miserable  anxieties  and  quarrels  which  once  consumed  so  much 
time  and  strength.  We  must  become  greater  men  for  the  sake  of 
the  greater  tasks  which  God  sets  us.  We  must  have  done  with  all 
sorts  of  old  things  which  seem  important  to  us — first  of  all,  leave 
our  old  opinions  to  one  side,  and  hearken  to  the  living  God !  We 
must  do  this ;  orthodox,  liberal,  Catholic,  Protestant,  Jew,  Gentile — 
hearken  to  God.  and  know  that  all  the  things  in  life  that  are  most 
worth  while — the  deepest  and  best  things — are  precisely  the  things 
that  we  cannot  quarrel  about.  Some  year  or  two  ago  I  attended 
a  church  gathering  where  they  were  ordaining  a  young  man  to  the 
Christian  ministry,  and  the  preachers  were  examining  him  as  to 
his  qualifications  to  be  a  prophet  of  God  to  his  generation.  And 
what  did  they  ask  him?  Do  you  believe  that  Adam  was  an  histor- 
ical person?  Do  you  believe  that  Moses  wrote  the  Pentateuch? 
Do  you  believe  in  the  virgin  birth  of  Jesus?  Did  Jesus  walk  upon 
the  water  and  turn  water  into  wine?  Do  you  hold  the  dictation 
theory  of  inspiration  ?  and  the  like.  Why  Satan,  if  there  be  a  Satan, 
could  have  answered  all  those  questions  in  the  affirmative  as  this 
young  man  was  required  to  answer  them,  and  be  a  Satan  still,  for 


44 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

all  that!  Nothing  to  stir  a  man's  blood  there;  petty,  sorry  side 
issues.  To  save  your  life  you  could  not  worship  a  God  whose  inter- 
est was  in  such  things.  To  save  your  life  you  cannot  imagine  Jesus 
Christ,  the  man  of  the  Cross,  preaching  a  sermon  on  close  com- 
munion, or  immersion,  or  infant  baptism ;  and  Paul  cried,  "Circum- 
cision is  nothing,  and  uncircumcision  is  nothing,  but  faith  that 
worketh  by  love" — and  he  spoke  definitive  truth !  And  our  age  is  as 
tremendous  as  theirs — gigantic  tasks  and  problems  are  knocking  at 
the  church  door  for  admission ;  a  new  world  is  in  birth  throes ;  thun- 
derous storms  hang  and  peal  in  the  heavens ;  strange,  wild,  fearful 
thoughts  confuse  human  spirits ;  millions  of  human  souls  sigh  in 
uncertainty  concerning  the  supreme  issues  of  life ;  others  are  might- 
ily moved  by  religious  yearnings  and  are  aglow  with  vast  infinite 
hopes.  Not  cult,  but  character;  not  rubrics,  but  righteousness;  not 
belief  in  miracles,  but  bravery  in  morality ;  not  persistence  in  the 
dead  formulas  of  dead  peoples,  but  Theodore  Parker's  fire  and 
storm — this  is  the  purpose  and  the  passion  of  our  new  day !  There 
simply  has  got  to  be  more  truth  and  life  in  our  churches,  or  the 
really  religious  people  will  repudiate  the  churches.  Christianity  as 
traditionally  taught  among  us  is  not  taken  seriously  any  more  by 
serious  people.  The  great  revolutionary  heroic  truths  of  the  proph- 
ets, of  Jesus  and  his  gospel — what  has  become  of  these  in  our  mod- 
em life?  We  cannot,  like  them,  be  simply  hunmn  in  our  religion; 
we  want  to  be  orthodox,  or  liberal,  or  some  other  brand.  Parties 
come  in  between  God  and  the  soul,  and  religion  goes  out.  Then — 
greater  men,  that  is  God's  call  to  us! 

I  will  keep  you  but  a  moment  longer,  as  I  specify  one  other 
matter  only.  I  refer  to  those  who  are  most  upset  by  the  signs  ol 
the  times.  I  refer  to  the  panic  among  our  rich  people.  I  do  not 
now  inquire  as  to  how  much  cause  the  rich  have  to  be  disquieted. 
Still,  I  do  not  believe  that  the  revolutions  toward  which  we  are 
forging  ahead  mean  sudden  and  violent  catastrophes — expropria- 
tion of  property  owners  and  the  like — these  are  ghosts  begotten  of 
fear  and  ignorance.  But  I  do  believe  that  the  kingdom  of  mam- 
mon is  on  trial  for  its  life.  The  unequal  distribution  of  this  world's 
goods  is  the  one  arch  crime  of  our  social  Ife.  And  mighty  convul- 
sions are  in  store  for  those  who  possess  this  world's  goods.  But 
what  shall  they  do?  Part  with  half  of  their  goods,  perhaps?  We 
would  not  hinder  him  who  would  do  that !  But  only  one  thing  can 
we  surely  say:  Whoever  belongs  to  the  property  class,  let  him 
make  his  soul  free  from  possessions.  Let  him  accustom  himself 
to  the  thought  of  living  without  them.  Let  his  heart  not  be  fettered 
by  them.  But  this  is  true  not  simply  for  those  who  are  rich  in 
money.  It  is  true  of  culture,  of  outer  position  of  life,  and  like 
goods.  We  all  do  well  not  to  depend  so  much  on  such  things. 
Who  knows  whither  the  storms  and  waves  of  coming  revolutions 
could  carry  us?  We  must  be  free  from  this  luggage  of  life,  for 
we  may  be  suddenly  called  upon  to  pitch  our  moving  tents  a  day's 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 45 

march  nearer  home.  Ours  is  a  time  for  Paul's  solution  ag^in :  I 
know  both  how  to  be  abased,  and  I  know  how  to  abound.  We  must 
be  sure  that,  should  the  test  come,  we  are  not  only  not  dependent 
upon  our  money,  our  business,  our  houses,  but  also  not  upon  our 
books,  our  offices,  our  culture,  our  esthetic  requirements ;  that  we 
treasure  these  things  indeed,  but  do  not  have  our  lives  in  them ;  that 
we  know  better  values  in  which  we  rest.  If  we  have  thus  cast  aside 
i.he  unnecessary  baggage  in  thought,  have  armed  ourselves  with  the 
pilgrim's  staff  of  the  eternal  goodness;  if  we  have  thus  become 
free,  then  we  may  confidently  go  forward. 

Confidently  forward  with  God !  Yes,  with  God !  Firmly  and 
clearly  with  God !  The  genius  of  religion  is  forever  revealed  in 
the  sovereign  words:  The  Eternal  God  is  thy  dwelling  place,  and 
underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms.  In  such  a  time  as  ours  we 
need  above  all  else  to  find  God !  Not  the  God  of  comforta- 
ble Sunday  meditations,  who  is  often  only  an  esthetic  God ; 
not  a  thought-God,  or  sentiment-God  who  does  not  rule  life,  but 
the  God  of  reality,  on  whom  we  can  build  our  lives  in  bitter  ear- 
nestness. In  the  deep  and  the  dark,  in  the  pathless  and  plumbless 
future,  in  judgment  and  humiliation,  God  is  with  us.  There  will 
be  not  merely  loss  and  shame  and  terror;  there  will  be  joy,  hope, 
fresh  life.  Already  we  are  beginning  to  leave  industrial  hatred 
and  greed  behind  us !  The  cult  of  the  ego,  sensuality,  pseudo-culture 
and  pseudo-civilization,  we  are  beginning  to  leave  behind  us.  We 
are  moving  away  from  pettiness  of  the  pattern  of  life,  from  super- 
ficial morality  and  lifeless  religiosity — away  from  all  those  things 
are  we  moving  to  a  brave  search  for  truth,  an  earnest  warfare ;  to 
living  ideals,  and  fresh  hopes  that  souls  can  become  free  for  God. 
How  good  it  is  that  even  danger  and  daring  are  ours  once  more, 
as  they  were  Theodore  Parker's ;  that  the  heroic  in  man,  so  long 
a  sealed  fountain,  can  break  forth  again.  Then  joyously  forward 
with  God: 

New  occasions  teach  new  duties ;  time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth ; 
They  must  upward  still,  and  onward,  who  would  keep  abreast  of 

truth ; 
Lo !  before  us  gleam  her  camp-fires !  we  ourselves  must  pilgrims  be ; 
Launch  our   Mayflower,   and   steer  boldly   through   the   desperate 

winter  sea ; 
Nor  attempt  the  future's  portal  with  the  past's  blood-rusted  key ! 


Doctor  Hirsch  :  May  we  stand  firmly  upon  the  elaborate 
heights  to  which  the  speaker  has  led  us. 

We  will  have  the  pleasure  now  of  listening  to  an  address  by  the 
Rev.  Charles  F.  Carter. 


46 THEODORE  PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Park  Congregational  Church,  Hartford,  Conn. 


THEODORE   PARKER'S  THEOLOGY  AND  VITAL 
CONCEPTION  OF  RELIGION. 

It  is  good  for  a  man  who  has  been  under  fire  and  who  has 
borne  the  fire  well,  to  speak  of  another  man  who  also  was  under 
fire  sixty  years  ago,  and  when  a  man  speaks  out  of  his  heart 
prophetic  words  such  as  we  have  just  heard  from  Professor  Foster, 
it  is  really  time  for  the  benediction — time  to  meditate  and  take 
home  to  our  hearts  the  thing  that  has  been  said  and  out  of  our 
hearts  to  put  it  into  life. 

While  my  friend, — I  was  going  to  call  him — although  I  never 
saw  him  before  tonight — yet  I  have  known  what  he  has  been  do- 
ing and  writing,  and  I  do  dare  to  call  him  friend  in  the  atmosphere 
of  this  spirit, — while  he  has  dwelt  somewhat  on  the  vigorous  war- 
fare that  Theodore  Parker  waged,  and  while  we  recognize  the 
need  and  effect  of  it  in  the  regeneration  of  men,  our  great  pur- 
pose and  work  in  this  commemoration  is  not  only  to  praise  him 
for  what  he  did,  but  also  to  liberate  the  spiritual  power  and  princi- 
ples that  he  maintained.  While  they  are  winning  their  way,  they 
have  never  yet  had  a  fair  chance ;  never  yet,  I  think,  with  all  the 
progress  of  the  last  generation,  have  they  come  to  the  point  of 
supremacy  that  is  their  due  in  the  religious  consciousness  of  our 
time.     For  there  is  power  in  them. 

Parker  is  not  to  be  praised  simply  because  he  had  courage  and 
because  he  was  a  radical ;  he  is  scarcely  to  be  praised  at  all  because 
he  was  a  liberal,  as  we  so  often  say.  I  am  somewhat  jealous  for 
the  integrity  of  the  message  of  Theodore  Parker.  He  was  called 
an  infidel,  an  atheist.  Those  terms  were  farthest  from  the  truth  and 
would  be  ridiculous  if  they  were  not  so  outrageous,  for  he  does 
not  open  by  his  attitude  toward  religion,  any  consort  with  those 
who  take  religion  in  an  easy-going  fashion.  There  is  no  comfort 
to  the  agnostic,  save  as  Theodore  Parker  leads  him  out  of  his 
agnosticism.  He  is  not  properly  to  be  called  a  humanitarian  in  the 
technical  sense  of  that  term ;  he  is  humanitarian  enough  in  the 
broadness  of  his  sympathies  and  the  work  that  he  sought  to  do 
for  men,  but  he  is  not  a  humanitarian  in  the  technical  sense  that 
the  motive  of  his  religion  was  prompted  chiefly  by  human  needs. 
His  motive  in  religion  was  prompted  by  the  love  of  God.  ruling 
in  his  own  heart.  He  is  a  humanitarian  in  the  flower  and  the  fruit 
of  his  religion,  but  in  the  root  of  it  he  comes  out  from  God.  And 
this  seems  to  me  so  important  that  you  will  let  me  emphasize  it 
still  farther  by  reference  to  a  clause  here  in  the  prospectus ;  not 
taking  any  improper  exception  to  it,  for  I  know  the  spirit  in  which 
it  was  written.  It  speaks  of  him  as  "a  prophet  of  civic  righteous- 
ness, economic  justice  and  the  universal  brotherhood  in  which  his 


i>prakrrs 


1.    Rahbi  Max  Heller        2.    Anna  (Iarland  Spencer         3.     Rev.  Chas.  F.  Dole 

4.    Rev.  Joseph  F.Newton  5.    Celia  Parker  Woolley 

6.     Rev.  Charles  F.  Carter  7.     F.  C.  Southworth 


THE  SINAI  TEMPLE  MEETING 47 

contentions  were  rooted."  His  contentions  were  not  rooted  in  uni- 
versal brotherhood :  they  were  rooted  rather  in  the  Fatherhood  of 
God,  and  those  convictions  show  their  reahty  and  their  force  and 
their  worth  by  coming  out  in  service  to  the  universal  brotherhood 
of  man. 

What  I  am  seeking  to  impress  is  this,  that  Theodore  Parker, 
in  his  thought  and  conviction  of  religion,  was  full-orbed  as  few 
men  have  ever  been.  He  had  a  thorough-going  philosophy.  He 
was  not  stopping  in  the  resort  of  wearied  or  baffled  intellects,  those 
halfway  houses  of  Pragmatism  or  Ritschlianism.  He  was  a  man 
who  could  think,  a  man  who  entered  into  the  meaning  of  the  uni- 
verse as  it  was  given  him  to  have  seen  it,  and  who  carried  on 
every  page  of  his  writing  and  into  every  hour  of  his  utterance 
this   full-orbed   conviction  of   the  truth. 

I  must  not  do  what  with  fuller  time  I  would  like  to  do,  give 
a  brief  outline  in  exposition  of  his  religious  thinking  and  theology. 

The  existence  of  God  was  to  him  as  sure  as  that  of  his  own 
selfhood.  In  this  he  had  kinship  with  Hegel.  The  idea  of  God 
was  a  necessity  of  thought  just  as  the  existence  of  God  was  nec- 
essary to  life.  Then  the  great  moral  imperative  that  so  commanded 
his  soul  interpreted  the  practical  and  vital  relation  between  God 
and  the  human  soul.  Here  he  had  kinship  with  Kant,  and  one 
of  the  wonders  about  his  capacious  intellect  was  that  taking  in 
such  a  wide  range  of  human  thought,  he  did  not  forfeit  his  own 
independence  and  originality,  while  he  never  indulged  in  specula- 
tion for  its  own  sake,  but  kept  peering  into  the  truths  of  the  Al- 
mighty and  His  universe,  in  order  that  he  might  live  better  and 
help  men  to  live  better. 

His  doctrine  regarding  man,  the  most  vital  thing  that  he  con- 
ceived, held  that  the  soul  is  fitted  for  God  and  may  receive  the 
divine  life  and  because  of  that  empowering  may  do  Godlike  deeds 
and  make  this  world  a  paradise. 

If  Theodore  Parker  had  been  asked  to  meet  one  of  our  eccle- 
siastical councils  to-day,  not  one  such  as  our  friend  has  referred 
tO;  but  such  an  one  as  I  was  called  to  meet  two  or  three  weeks  ago, 
I  am  sure  he  would  have  put  these  two  classifications  of  faith 
into  his  statement  of  belief,  regarding  the  existence  of  God  and 
the  capacity  of  the  human  soul,  and  then  I  think  he  would  have 
been  sure  to  say  that  vital  religion  rested  upon  the  exercise  of  this 
germinal  potency  of  man  by  which  he  could  lay  hold  of  God  and 
thus  become  Godlike.  Then  he  would  have  wanted  to  say  some- 
thing in  the  way  of  negation.  It  is  not  identification  with  the 
church  that  will  make  you  religious,  not  worshiping  the  Bible,  not 
even  worshiping  Jesus  Christ  in  outward  and  formal  fashion.  None 
of  those  things  that  interfere  with  the  personal  man  coming  into 
contact  with  his  Divine  Father  will  make  a  man  religious,  but  he 
must  develop  in  himself  this  power  of  direct  and  immediate  com- 
munion.    He  would  recognize  the  greatness  of  Jesus  Christ  and 


48 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

his  exalted  leadership.  References  I  must  not  delay  to  give,  but 
you  all  have  met  them  in  his  writings,  showing  that  there  is  no 
form  of  religious  truth,  or  even  religious  error,  but  has  met  the 
spiritual  need  of  the  man  out  of  whom  it  earnestly  came.  In  his 
essential  thought  Theodore  Parker  was  tolerant  to  all  the  limited 
truth  and  error  of  the  past.  I  could  give  quotation  after  quota- 
tion to  substantiate  that  position ;  but  the  thing  against  which  he 
was  violent  was  the  error  and  the  limited  truth  that  in  the  present 
kept  withholding  the  spirit  of  man  from  its  fuller  development. 

Another  essential  vein  in  his  teaching  I  can  find  no  better 
words  to  characterize  than  the  spirit  of  a  true  evangelism.  He 
pressed  home  the  truth  which  he  conceived  to  the  soul  of  every 
man  and  he  wanted  decision  in  favor  of  that  truth.  That  is  the 
heart  of  a  vital  evangelism  throughout  all  time.  Knowing  truth 
and  believing  in  God  does  not  result  in  spiritual  life.  It  is  man 
knowing  the  divine  will  for  himself  and  saying,  I  will  build  my 
life  on  that  ideal. 

Theodore  Parker  liberal !  The  word  is  almost  a  misnomer.  In 
this  fellowship  I  am  glad  to  stand,  and  have  stood  for  many  years, 
but  of  Theodore  Parker  I  would  rather  say  that  he  was  a  great 
radical  and  that  in  spirit  he  was  an  exactor  of  righteousness,  as 
was  Amos  of  old,  an  exactor  of  righteousness  for  the  individual 
life  that  it  might  become  Godlike,  and  then  an  exactor  of  righteous- 
ness for  the  entire  community,  that  by  means  of  the  life  and  service 
of  such  individuals  our  human  conditions  might  be  transformed 
and  made  splendid  with  the  Divine  life. 

He  was  a  mariner,  bold  to  adventure  out  from  the  shore,  not 
guided  by  the  headlands  of  tradition,  but  sending  his  bark  out  into 
the  open  sea,  relying  on  the  stars  to  guide  him  and  the  compass 
in  his  soul ;  and  the  words  of  Whitman,  splendid  as  they  are,  seem 
to  me  in  point  as  we  do  honor  to  this  man  to-day: 

"Away,  oh  Soul,  hoist  instantly  the  anchor ! 

Cut  the  hawsers,  haul  out, — shake  out  every  sail ! 

Sail  forth !   Steer  for  the  deep  waters  only, 

Reckless.  O  soul,  exploring,  I  with  thee  and  thou  witii  me. 

For  we  are  bound  where  mariner  has  not  yet  dared  to  go. 

And  we  will  risk  the  ship,  ourselves  and  all, 
O  my  brave  soul ! 
O  further,  further  sail ! 
O  daring  joy,  but  safe ! 

Are  they  not  all  the  seas  of  God !" 

This  navigator,  prophet  of  the  soul,  sailed  the  seas  in  faith, 
and  he  brought  to  port  a  cargo  of  spiritual  convictions  and  aspira- 
tions for  you  and  me  to  use. 

The  choir  of  Sinai  Temple  rendered  several  beautiful  selec- 
tions during  the  evening. 

After  the  benediction,  pronounced  by  Doctor  Hirsch,  the  meet- 
ing adjourned  to  Wednesday  morning,  November  16,  1910. 


misH  Hans  Abftama,  PrfBt&ing 
HpJinw&ag  Morning,  "^awmbn  Ifi,  ISIQ 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING  51 


i^uU  1^0110^  ilMtn$ 


MISS    JANE    ADDAMS,    Presiding 


Miss  Addams:  Will  the  meeting  come  to  order?  As  this 
meeting  is  but  one  in  a  series  that  are  being  held  in  Chicago  this 
week  sacred  to  the  memory  of  Theodore  Parker,  I  am  sure  I  need 
not  add  my  tribute  to  that  great  man.  I  am  very  happy  that  one 
of  these  meetings  occurred  at  Hull  House  and  shall  always  be 
glad  to  think  of  this  association  with  this  place. 

The  first  speaker  this  morning  is  Mrs.  Anna  Garlin  Spencer, 
whom  we  all  have  associated  with  Rhode  Island  and  New  York, 
but  who  happily  has  come  now  to  Milwaukee  for  at  least  a  few 
months  of  every  year.  She  has  come  down  this  morning  to  ad- 
dress us.  While  her  theme  seems  remote,  it  is  after  all  not  re- 
mote, as  she  will  interpret  it,  I  am  sure,  for  after  all  Theodore 
Parker  was  connected  with  all  reforms. 


Abir^flH  bg  S^n.  Atttta  (^arltn  ^i^mttx 


THE  NEW  CENTER  OF  GRAVITY  IN  PHILANTHROPY; 

A  RESUME  OF  THE  GENERAL  TREND  IN  SOCIAL 

UPLIFT  SINCE  PARKER'S  DAY. 

Madam  Chairman  and  Friends:  In  talking  over  with  Mr. 
Jones  the  topic  of  my  little  talk  this  morning,  it  seemed  to  me  right 
and  commended  itself  to  him,  to  consider  the  social  value  of  various 
changes  that  have  occurred  since  Theodore  Parker's  leadership  was 
with  us  with  voice  and  pen,  as  a  point  on  which  we  could  com- 
bine Theodore  Parker,  the  leader  in  the  field  of  religious  idealism 
and  Theodore  Parker,  the  leader  in  certain  great  reforms.  His 
leadership  in  religious  idealism  will  be  celebrated  everywhere,  but 
perhaps  the  connection  between  his  general  usefulness  in  the  social 
movement  of  his  own  time  and  the  kind  of  leadership  that  is 
called  for  at  the  present  day  is  not  quite  so  apparent. 

The  phrase,  "The  new  center  of  gravity  in  philanthropy"  is  one 
to  which  we  can  attach  some  of  these  points  of  change  since 
Parker's  day. 

The  idealism  that  results  in  practical  service  for  mankind,  in 
whatever  field,  has  changed  in  its  philanthropic  aspect  within  one 
hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  years,  in  the  most  radical  man- 


52 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

ner.  We  inherited  in  Christian  civilization  an  ideal  of  charity,  as 
an  act  for  the  benefit  of  the  giver,  rather  than  the  receiver.  All 
of  our  Middle  Age  writings,  all  our  inherited  institutions  indicate 
that  charity  was  considered  "an  act  of  piety"  for  the  spiritual  ben- 
efit of  the  giver.  The  old  poet — "near-poet,"  not  quite  a  poet — 
who  gave  us  so  many  sidelights  upon  the  17th  century  summed  it 
all  up  when  he  said : 

"Then  give  freely  to  all  without  any  regard, 

Though  the  beggars  be  wicked  thou  hast  thy  reward." 

It  is  within  ten  years  that  I  myself  heard  a  great  prelate  of 
a  great  church  standing  on  the  platform  of  a  charity  organization 
society  at  its  annual  meeting,  regret  that  the  words  "abolish  poverty" 
were  used  as  parts  of  the  objects  of  the  organization,  for,  he  said, 
"If  there  were  no  poor  to  care  for,  where  would  be  the  discipline 
of  the  saints?" 

Now,  we  have  traveled  far  from  that.  Perhaps  the  next  step 
was  the  very  natural  step  of  human  sympathy  that  led  us  to  think 
that  it  is  not  after  all  of  so  much  account  whether  or  not  souls  are 
benefited  by  the  gift,  but  rather  whether  the  condition  of  the  re- 
ceiver is  benefited ;  and  we  entered  into  that  great  humanitarian 
era  when  the  words  were  taken  literally,  "Give  to  him  that  asketh 
of  thee  and  from  him  that  would  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  away." 

Then  came  the  great  disciplinary  era  growing  out  of  the 
evils  springing  from  indiscriminate  giving  and  its  development  of 
pauperism.  Pauperism  developed  not  only  from  social  conditions 
of  the  time,  but  by  reason  of  unwise  philanthropy ;  this,  in  reaction, 
led  to  the  era  of  restraint  and  harsh  treatment  of  beggars  and  the 
"poor,"  which  made  the  word  "charity"  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of 
many  social  reformers,  as  it  is  even  to-day. 

That  sort  of  movement  in  charity,  disciplinary  and  educational, 
but  chiefly  disciplinary,  is  that  which  John  Boyle  O'Reilly  char- 
acterizes when  he  speaks  of  "that  organized  charity  skimped  and 
iced,  in  the  name  of  a  cautious,  statistical  Christ." 

Passing  rapidly  from  that  period  into  the  truly  educational, 
we  had  an  era  exemplified  by  Chalmers  and  Barnett  of  London 
and  by  many  of  the  workers  in  this  country  (perhaps  its  most 
gracious  exponent  is  Josephine  Shaw  Lowell),  when  the  one  per- 
son who  had  aught  to  give,  gave  to  another  who  needed  to  receive, 
in  the  simplest  social  sympathy,  but  all  acts  of  benevolent  impulse 
governed  by  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  real  needs  of 
the  person  to  be  benefited.  This  is  the  era  of  the  enlightened 
"organized  charity"  that  John  Boyle  OT^eilly  and  others  have  over- 
looked or  misunderstood. 

From  that  we  have  passed  rapidly  in  this  country  to  the 
period  of  the  study  of  the  causes  of  human  misery  and  to  the 
attempt  to  remove  these  causes. 

I   bring  this   review,   which   is    familiar  to   you   all,   to   mind 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING S3 

this  morning,  that  we  may  realize  a  little  more  how  far  we  have 
moved  since  Theodore  Parker's  time  in  the  central  and  overmas- 
tering pressure  of  social  ideals  upon  all  philanthropic  and  educa- 
tional movements. 

Theodore  Parker  lived  and  worked  in  that  last  great  reform 
founded  upon  the  eighteenth  century  movement  for  individual  hu- 
man rights.  The  anti-slavery  conflict  has  been  called  "the  last 
great  social  movement  to  use  for  its  weapons  Scripture  texts."' 
It  may  as  truly  be  said,  I  think,  that  it  was  the  last  great  social 
movement,  in  this  country  at  least,  to  found  itself  quite  clearly 
and  definitely,  and  almost  exclusively  upon  this  eighteenth  century 
doctrine  of  the  equality  of  human  rights.  Directly  following  that 
great  movement,  certain  changes  in  our  industrial  order,  great 
openings  of  new  vistas  along  social  and  educational  lines  brought 
into  all  our  social  movements  quite  other  elements.  But  in  the 
anti-slavery  conflict  we  had  a  clear  struggle  for  the  rights  of  man. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  movement  for  the  equality  of  rights 
between  the  sexes,  we  had  just  such  a  foundation  of  principles.  I 
say  it  with  some  hesitation,  but  perhaps  the  belated  nature  of  this 
reform  in  respect  to  women's  rights,  (belated  as  contrasted  with 
other  elements  in  the  woman  movement),  is  due  to  the  fact  that 
it  was  founded  upon  a  theory  of  reform,  a  central  idealism  which 
is  at  present  somewhat  in  eclipse,  if  not  outgrown, 

Theodore  Parker  forever  thundered  reform,  and  personal  re- 
sponsibility for  bad  conditions  was  so  clear  a  factor  to  him  that 
he  could  condemn  individuals  as  well  as  conditions. 

If  you  will  excuse  a  little  personal  recollection, — when  I  made 
my  maiden  speech  in  the  field  of  woman  suffrage  in  Tremont  Tem- 
ple in  Boston  (pushed  out  of  the  nest  too  soon  by  my  god- 
mothers in  reform,  Elizabeth  Buffum  Chase  and  Lucy  Stone) — in 
a  meeting  presided  over  by  James  Freeman  Clarke,  I  ventured  to 
say  in  my  paper  that  "we  make  no  war  upon  oppressors  but  upon 
oppression,"  whereupon  I  was  promptly  rebuked  by  the  chief  figure 
on  the  platform,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  who  indicated  that  we 
had  reached  a  dangerous  period  when  we  minimized  personal  re- 
sponsibility. He  said  in  effect  that  I  should  have  to  learn  soon 
if  I  were  going  to  be  the  right  kind  of  reformer,  that  the  slave- 
holder knew  that  he  was  doing  wrong  when  he  held  a  human 
being  in  slavery,  and  therefore  he  was  to  be  made  war  against  as 
an  oppressor.  And  he  added  that  the  man  who  arrogated  rights 
to  himself  which  he  did  not  freely  and  fully  grant  to  his  sister 
woman,  knciv  that  he  was  an  oppressor,  and  that  he  therefore 
sinned  against  the  light.  I  mention  that  to  show  that  the  attitude 
of  the  reformer  changed  soon  after  we  lost  in  this  country  the  great 
leadership  of  Theodore  Parker,  and  we  have  been  separating  the 
oppressor  from  oppression  ever  since ;  we  have  been  more  and 
more  throwing  the  responsibility  for  bad  conditions  upon  society 
at  large,  ourselves   included,   whether  we   voluntarily  sin  or  not. 


54 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

To-day  all  are  considered  guilty  rather  than  one  great  malefactor, 
whether  in  one  field  of  wrong-doing  or  another.  It  is  now  diffi- 
cult to  find  a  scapegoat  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  social  body. 

Theodore  Parker  had  not  only  moral  zeal,  but,  for  the  ora- 
tor, that  greatest  of  all  advantages,  he  did  not  need  to  pick 
and  choose  his  words ;  he  could  fire  away  at  the  sin  and  at  the 
sinner  with  no  hesitation  at  all,  and  that  is  a  great  advantage  in 
stirring  the  souls  of  men.  That  was  what  made,  as  has  been  said, 
"eloquence  dirt  cheap  on  the  anti-slavery  platform."  They  never  had 
to  pick  and  choose  words  lest  they  should  do  injustice  to  the  in- 
dividual; they  could  swing  out  into  great  emotions  and  get  their 
reaction  then  and  there.  We  now  have  to  measure  and  weigh  our 
words  more  carefully,  and  lose  in  consequence  much  oratorical 
power. 

Theodore  Parker  also  was  at  work  for  human  betterment  along 
philanthropic  lines.  His  day  and  generation  was  the  time  when 
the  great  New  England  renaissance,  the  transcendental  movement, 
was  giving  the  prophetic  dream  of  a  new  human  society. 

You  know  it  was  along  in  the  early  '50s  that  Emerson  said, 
"This  is  an  age  of  multitudinous  reforms.  Every  third  man  you 
meet  carries  the  ground  plan  of  the  New  Jerusalem  in  his  pocket." 

It  was  an  era  when  what  we  may  call  the  adolescence  of 
American  democracy  on  its  spiritual  side  was  in  the  full  tide  of 
vivid  experience.  It  was  an  age  in  which  it  could  be  asserted  with 
full  confidence  that  "Every  soul  has  immediate  access  to  the  divine," 
not  in  the  little  by-paths  and  small  areas  of  philosophy  and  religious 
experience  but  pervading  all  life.  Among  the  leaders  of  that  time 
Theodore  Parker  stood  firm  in  the  acclamation  of  that  attitude, 
the  access  of  each  human  soul  to  the  divine,  and  thus  we  gained 
the  most  splendid  prophecies,  the  least  immediately  realizable  state- 
ments of  that  great  epoch  of  human  experience.  It  gave  appre- 
ciation of  the  worth  and  dignity  of  man,  and  of  the  capacity  for 
development  in  each  human  being,  that  led  to  the  movement  for 
popular  education  which  the  intimate  associates  of  Parker  were 
leading,  and  in  which  he  was  in  entire  sympathy. 

It  was  thought  then  that  if  you  could  free  everybody  from  the 
bonds  of  oppression,  and  if  you  could  open  the  schoolhouse  door 
to  everybody,  that  all  would  enter  into  the  birthright  of  conscious 
himian  relationship  with  all  that  is  finest  and  best.  That  dream 
has  proved  hard  to  work  into  the  fundamental  operations  of  human 
life;  but  that  we  had  a  group  of  people  who  could  dream  that  dream 
and  dream  it  so  vitally,  that,  as  with  the  imaginative  child,  the 
dream  could  almost  seem  demonstrably  a  fact,  is  the  reason  we 
are  able  to  get  a  little  nearer  to  it  as  a  realization  to-day. 

But  that  educational  movement,  how  changed  since  then !  It 
was  thought  then  that  if  you  could  start  this  universal  culture 
along  the  lines  of  pedagogic  theory  and  practice  then  held,  that  was 
all  that  was  necessary — every  one  could  be  truly  educated. 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 55 

Now  we  know  that  the  education  devised  for  the  few,  for 
certain  classes  with  a  Hmited  range  of  vocational  activity,  must  be 
radically  changed  to  meet  the  needs  of  all  the  people  engaged  in 
the  multiplicity  of  activities  that  are  now  the  common  lot.  It 
is  easy  to  say,  open  the  schoolhouse  door;  make  education  free. 
It  is  difficult,  very  difficult,  to  make  the  education  inside  the 
schoolhouse  a  fit  and  adequate  training  for  a  democratic  people. 

Again,  Theodore  Parker  once  said,  "The  business  of  the  min- 
ister in  Boston  is  to  find  employm.ent  for  poor  women  out  of  work." 
He  might  have  said  poor  men  and  women  out  of  work.  Theodore 
Parker's  message  came  when  we  were  just  beginning  our  new  in- 
dustrial order,  with  no  realizing  sense  on  the  part  of  any  one,  ap- 
parently, upon  what  vast  social  changes  we  were  embarking.  It 
was  one's  duty  then  to  help  the  individual  to  a  readjustment  of 
conditions,  to  help  the  person  who  had  been  trained  in  general  use- 
fulness, if  possible,  to  be  specially  useful  in  some  particular  field. 

It  is  a  noble  picture  of  self-sacrifice  that  we  get  when  we 
think  of  Theodore  Parker's  study,  in  which  he  was  doing  such 
great  things  for  literature  and  for  the  religious  life,  but  where 
he  was  besieged  night  and  day  by  individuals  needing  individual 
aid.  How  generously  he  responded,  at  the  cost  perhaps  of  his 
life  itself,  because  no  human  being  can  be  the  greatest  leader  in 
some  one  direction  of  pioneer  thought  and  be  forever  spending 
time  and  strength  in  helping  individual  lives  here  and  there,  with- 
out enormous  expenditure  of  strength.  The  effort  to  do  that  im- 
possible thing  was  probably  the  reason  why  we  lost  Theodore 
Parker  so  young — one  reason  at  least. 

But  what  is  the  problem  resting  upon  us  now  in  connection 
with  the  non-employment  of  people?  We  are  beginning  to  use  the 
larger,  impersonal  term  "unemployment."  To-day  it  is  not  because 
A,  B,  C  and  D  or  E,  F,  and  G  are  out  of  work  that  our  deepest 
troubles  come  upon  us,  it  is  because  of  a  great  mal-adjustment  in 
the  economic  world ;  so  that  it  is  not  alone  to-day  the  business  of 
the  leader  in  social  reform  to  help  A,  B,  C  and  D,  E,  F  and  G 
to  work-places  (though  that  is  still  our  duty),  but  it  is  our  duty 
also  to  bring  aljout  a  change  somehow  in  the  industrial  system 
so  that  it  will  not  be  so  easy  for  A,  B,  C  and  D  or  E,  F  and  G 
to  drop  out  of  the  industrial  class  into  the  pauper  class,  the  dis- 
couraged down-and-out. 

Again,  when  Theodore  Parker  talked  about  philanthropy  it 
self — I  wish  I  could  remember  to  repeat  the  language  he  used  in 
inspiring  the  philanthropic  spirit,  where  he  stirred  up  the  church 
to  a  realizing  sense  that  it  has  not  alone  to  talk  good  and  feel 
good,  but  to  act  good  and  act  the  right  sort  of  goodness  that  the 
church  should  insist  upon.  But  when  he  took  hold  of  that  sub- 
ject, how  different  were  the  conditions  to  what  we  have  to-day! 
The  educational  impulse  that  came  out  of  the  heart  of  that  mag- 
nificent effort  enabled  Dr.  Howe,  Gallandet  and  the  rest  to  take 


56 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

hold  of  the  needs  of  special  classes,  to  introduce  special  elements 
into  the  care  and  education  of  the  feeble-minded,  for  instance.  It 
was  the  renaissance  in  New  England ;  it  was  the  new  growth  upon 
that  new  soil  of  the  humanistic  movement  which  was  embodied  in 
Pestalozzi,  who  said  in  dying,  "I  have  lived  like  a  beggar  in  order 
that  beggars  might  learn  to  live  like  men." 

That  is  the  element  which  came  into  our  movement  on  this 
side  of  the  water  for  free  education  and  for  the  education  of  all, 
even  the  least  and  worst  of  humanity. 

When  Horace  Mann  was  asked  why  he  had  sacrificed  his  great 
prospects  as  a  lawyer,  why  he  had  sacrificed  all  luxuries  and  most 
comforts  of  life  in  order  to  serve  the  cause  of  free  education  in 
Massachusetts,  he  said,  "Because  I  believe  in  the  infinite  improv- 
ability  of  the  human  race."  That  was  the  same  spirit  that  entered 
into  Dr.  Howe  and  so  many  other  social  helpers  of  the  time.  When 
Dr.  Howe  began  to  apply  that  spirit  to  the  education  of  the  feeble- 
minded, he  applied  it  with  the  fervor  of  the  thought  that  "the  idiot 
himself  might  lose  the  stamp  of  the  beast  from  his  forehead  and 
stand  up  erect  as  a  man." 

This  early  hope  in  regard  to  the  care  of  the  feeble-minded 
has  passed  from  our  vision.  Later,  one  of  our  great  leaders  in 
that  work,  Dr,  Kerlin,  has  said,  "We  cannot,  as  was  thought  in 
the  beginning,  educate  all  feeble-minded  to  be  normal  human  be- 
ings ;  we  cannot  unlock  their  doors ;  but  if  we  can  make  one  third 
of  them  one-third  normal  human  beings,  we  are  satisfied  to  work." 

It  was  the  same  way  with  the  care  of  the  insane.  When 
Dorothea  Dix  made  her  wonderful  pilgrimage,  which  revolution- 
ized the  care  of  the  insane,  she  and  all  her  kind  felt — so  marvel- 
ous was  the  effect  upon  the  insane  of  kindness  and  the  right  sort 
of  physical  and  mental  surroundings — that  insanity  was  a  pass- 
ing disease,  largely  brought  about  by  neglect  and  cruelty.  But  we 
are  not  in  that  same  optimistic  condition  of  mind  now  in  regard 
to  insanity.  We  know  much  of  it  is  incurable  and  its  treatment 
and  prevention  most  difficult. 

It  is  the  same  way  with  all  the  other  elements  of  defectiveness 
and  degeneracy  that  we  find  in  modern  human  life.  We  have  be- 
come sober ;  we  are  no  longer  in  the  adolescent  period  when  noth- 
ing in  the  universe  seems  too  hard  to  do  within  the  next  five  years ; 
we  are  no  longer  in  the  period  of  prophecy  and  high  hope  that 
leads  us  to  feel  that  now  we  have  arrived,  this  old  world  will 
hustle  and  do  the  thing  we  want  it  to  do.  We  are  in  the  drudgery 
of  slow  constructive  reforms.  But  without  that  vision  and  that 
optimism  and  that  magnificent  self-assertion  and  belief  in  the  power 
of  the  human  soul,  we  could  not  now  be  engaged  in  the  work 
which  lies  before  us  with  adequate  courage. 

We  have  reached  a  quite  different  mind  regarding  the  social 
causes  of  individual  dci^cncracy.  They  have  come  closer  to  our  con- 
sciousness.    The  social  reformer  does  to-day  exactly  as  I  believe 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 57 

Theodore  Parker  would  do  if  he  were  living.     He  places  the  chief 
responsibility  for  the  disorders  of  society  upon  society  in  general. 

I  do  not  believe,  however,  that  if  Theodore  Parker  were  here 
to-day  his  splendid  religious  idealism  would  be  submerged  as  is 
the  religious  idealism  of  so  many  of  our  social  reformers.  I  be- 
lieve he  would,  if  living,  venture  a  definition  of  human  progress 
which  would  match  his  definition  of  God.  "God,"  says  Theodore 
Parker,  "has  no  limitation,  none  of  personality,  none  of  imperson- 
ality." 

May  I  venture  with  all  modesty  to  say  that  I  wish  as  great  a 
voice,  to  be  heard  by  as  many  people,  to  be  echoed  down  the  years 
as  his  has  been,  could  now  be  raised  to  press  home  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  all  people  now  working  for  social  betterment  in  one 
place  and  another  that  there  are  no  limitations  to  human  growth ; 
no  limitations  to  general  uplift  through  improved  environment ; 
none  to  individual  capacity  for  achievement  of  the  great  person 
greatly  inspired,  no  matter  what  adverse  conditions  hold  him  bsck. 

I  believe  we  need  something  of  the  confident  enthusiasm  that 
was  in  Theodore  Parker's  life.  We  need  indeed  an  intelligent,  a 
realizing  sense  of  economic  conditions  and  of  changes  coming  in 
the  new  industrial  order,  of  much  of  which  he  knew  nothing — as 
how  could  he  in  the  period  in  which  he  worked? 

Realizing,  however,  the  new  center  of  gravity  in  philanthropy 
which  is  pressed  upon  us  by  the  new  sense  of  social  responsibility 
in  new  forms  of  social  effort,  we  need  as  well  that  splendid 
idealism  of  the  transcendental  epoch.  If  you  study  the  writings 
of  Theodore  Parker,  there  is  evidence  of  a  constant  appeal  which 
is  in  itself  a  paradox — the  appeal  to  the  individual  to  be  great,  to 
be  noble,  to  achieve,  no  matter  what  his  surroundings,  and  the 
appeal  to  the  social  conscience  itself,  the  corporate  responsibility, 
to  make  it  possible,  yea,  easy,  for  every  soul  to  become  a  truly 
human  being. 

You  know  our  poet  Lowell  speaks  of  the  time  in  the  year  when 
"  'Tis  as  easy  now  for  the  heart  to  be  true, 
As  for  grass  to  be  green  or  skies  to  be  blue, — 
'Tis  the  natural  way  of  living." 

If  there  is  any  deep  religious  impulse  in  the  social  movement 
of  our  time,  it  is  that  purpose,  to  make  social  conditions  such  that 
it  will  be  easier,  at  least,  for  the  heart  to  be  true  in  the  natural 
way  of  living  than  it  has  ever  been  in  the  past. 

And  although  Theodore  Parker  did  not  feel  the  mighty  cur- 
rent of  environmental  change  which  is  the  master  impulse  of  our 
era,  he  made  clear  that  divine  paradox  of  the  supreme  demand 
of  religion  upon  the  personal  life  and  the  supreme  demand  upon 
society  for  better  conditions  for  every  individual.  Who  shall  say 
that  this  divine  paradox  is  outgrown  even  with  the  new  center  of 
gravity  in  philanthropy  moving  us  toward  vaster  and  vaster  circles 
of  social  uplift? 


58 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Miss  Addams:  I  think  Mr.  Wendte  is  the  next  speaker.  I 
do  not  know  his  subject,  but  perhaps  he  himself  will  announce  it. 
I  am  sure  he  needs  no  introduction  to  this  audience. 


AbJir? sa  bg  (D.  W.  WmhU,  S.  i. 


I  confess  to  a  good  deal  of  embarrassment  in  rising  to  address 
>ou.  We  generally  come  to  Hull  House  to  learn,  and  not  to  im- 
part instruction,  and  we  sit  at  the  feet  of  its  "head" — you  must 
excuse  that  extraordinary  expression — to  gain  instruction  and  in- 
spiration for  our  philanthropic  endeavor. 

I  am  also  personally  imder  great  obligation  to  our  friend,  the 
speaker  of  the  morning.  I  have  often  sat  at  her  feet  also,  learn- 
ing from  her  concerning  higher  educational  methods,  and  the  best 
way  to  apply  our  individual  effort  to  philanthropic  problems.  To 
come  here  now  without  preparation  and  to  follow  so  brilliant  a 
review  as  hers  of  the  historic  aspects  of  philanthropic  endeavor, 
is  no  easy  matter. 

This  matter  of  public  service  is  at  present  occupying  very 
much  the  attention  of  the  profession  to  which  I  belong,  the  Chris- 
tian ministry.  There  never  has  been  a  time,  I  suppose,  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  church,  when  so  many  clergymen  of  all  denominations, 
and  especially  among  Protestants,  were  devoting  themselves  to  the 
study  and  application  of  social  service  in  some  one  of  its  many 
aspects.  The  emphasis  which  was  formerly  given  to  theological 
and  doctrinal  topics  is  being  gradually  withdrawn  and  the  duties 
of  kindness  and  helpfulness,  of  service  to  others,  and  the  larger 
welfare  of  the  whole,  are  forming  the  staple  of  most  of  the  ser- 
mons to  which  I  have  the  privilege  of  listening  in  my  own  fellow- 
ship, and  so,  I  doubt  not,  it  is  in  many  others. 

Of  course,  there  are  two  aspects  in  which  the  matter  pre- 
sents itself  to  clergymen — the  one  is  the  duty  of  relieving  actual, 
existing  distress,  the  consequence  of  maladjustments  in  the  social 
order,  or  of  personal  inadequacy  or  delinquency ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  duty  of  seeking  to  change  and  improve  the  causes  or 
sources  from  which  these  evils  have  largely  sprung.  And  I  think 
perhaps  the  clergy  today,  especially  the  younger  men,  in  their 
desire  to  grapple  with  the  great  reforms  of  the  time,  which  deal 
with  the  sources  of  poverty  and  sickness  and  misery,  and  the  so- 
cial injustice  of  our  day,  are  apt  to  lose  from  sight  the  immediate 
importance  of  alleviating  the  results  of  social  maladjustment,  of 
ameliorating  the  distress  which  is  presented  to  them.  Yet,  assuredly, 
this  is  a  duty  of  the  first  order. 

Everyone  has  made  to  him  this  constant  call  upon  his  sym- 
pathy and  bounty,  and  he  cannot  ignore  it.  He  has  a  duty  to  per- 
form in  this  respect,  the  duty  of  alleviating  distress  wherever  he 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 59 

finds  it,  the  duty  of  immediate  personal  service  toward  as  many 
as  his  personal  endeavor  can  reach. 

I  know  of  a  young  minister  settled  in  one  of  our  New  England 
manufacturing  towns,  who  established  some  years  ago  milk  sta- 
tions, in  which  the  mothers  and  wives  of  operatives  working  in  the 
mills  could  obtain  pure  milk  for  their  babies,  and  we  are  told  that 
he  has  been  the  means  of  saving  hundreds  of  lives  in  that  com- 
munity. Assuredly,  that  is  a  noble  service  for  one  man  to  render. 
But  I  find  when  that  example  is  cited  to  certain  other  ministers, 
they  are  rather  inclined  to  look  with  contempt  upon  it.  They  say 
that  laws  ought  to  be  passed  by  which  pure  milk  will  be  provided 
in  any  case  to  everybody  in  the  community;  and  that  we  should 
strike  at  the  sources  of  this  evil  and  not  waste  time  and  strength 
by  trying  to  ameliorate  it.  Well,  we  might  reply,  "This  thing 
shouldest  thou  have  done,  and  not  have  left  the  other  undone." 
This  young  minister  has  established  these  milk  stations,  and  it  will 
lead,  by  and  by,  to  larger  action  by  the  community ;  to  the  passage 
of  better  laws  and  ordinances,  etc. 

So  I  think  we  must  not  forget  the  ameliorative  work  which 
the  minister  has  to  do  in  the  community. 

Of  course  it  is  easy  to  say  that  the  minister  may  make  mis- 
takes in  this  direction ;  he  may  seek,  perhaps,  to  benefit  the  people 
of  his  particular  church  even  more  than  the  recipients  of  their 
charity.  I  remember  once  Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  when  he 
plead  for  a  cause  with  which  I  had  no  sympathy,  and  told  him 
so,  replied,  "Wendte,  I  don't  care  what  they  do  with  the  money; 
but  I  want  these  people  to  give  for  their  own  soul's  salvation.  It 
will  make  them,  better  men  and  women  to  be  rich  in  service  to 
their  fellows." 

There  was  a  certain  truth  in  that,  but  it  may  easily  be  carried 
too  far.  There  are  arguments  applicable  to  such  a  point  of  view, 
such  as  the  duplication  of  charity,  the  evils  of  indiscriminate  giv- 
ing, and  all  that  sort  of  thing. 

Then,  again,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  sometimes  we  are  apt, 
as  Christian  ministers,  to  exaggerate  the  work  of  Christian  exam- 
ples and  precedents  in  this  matter, — to  claim  too  much  for  our 
Christianity,  Doubtless  Jesus  preached  the  Kingdom  of  God,  but, 
as  a  recent  German  writer  has  well  remarked,  the  Kingdom  of 
God  Jesus  proclaimed  was  to  be  a  free  gift  from  Heaven  to  man- 
kind. Man  was  not  expected  to  do  anything  to  achieve  it  for  him- 
self, except  to  live  a  pure  life  and  be  kind  to  his  neighbor ;  the  rest 
was  to  be  God's  gift ;  the  end  of  the  world  was  approaching  any- 
way ;  there  was  no  need  to  build  a  new  Jerusalem,  it  was  to  descend 
a  free  gift  out  of  Heaven  to  man. 

Nowadays  we  have  a  very  dififerent  conception  of  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven,  and  the  possible  means  of  attaining  it.  We  com- 
bine ;  we  seek  to  unite  the  best  methods,  and  to  achieve  the  mil- 
lennium ourselves. 


60 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Take,  for  instance,  the  great  question  of  women's  uplift,  the 
desire  of  women  for  a  larger  opportunity — the  idea  of  their  com- 
bining, for  instance,  like  these  poor  striking  shirtwaist  makers,  for 
the  purpose  of  achieving  social  justice,  and  endeavoring  to  uplift 
their  sex — why,  this  great  woman  movement  was  never  dreamed 
of  in  early  Christian  times !  It  does  not,  and  cannot  fit  in  with 
the  social  order  of  the  fi:rst  centuries. 

Then  again,  take  this  wonderful  method  of  co-operation  in  our 
day,  by  which  the  men  and  women  of  our  industrial  classes  seek 
to  improve  their  condition  and  achieve  a  larger  opportunity,  greater 
rewards  for  their  labor,  a  fuller  and  richer  life  for  themselves 
and  their  children.     All  this  was  unknown  to  the  first  Christians. 

I  might  go  on  and  speak  of  the  temperance  question  and  many 
other  reforms  of  the  day.  Of  course  you  will  say  that  though 
the  early  Christian  Fathers  did  not  have  this  particular  vision, 
they  yet  stood  for  certain  great  principles,  which,  if  we  adhere 
faithfully  to  them,  will  be  sufficient  to  bring  about  these  ends. 

"The  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,"  will, 
perhaps,  in  a  general  way  and  in  due  time,  bring  about  the  King- 
dom of  God.  Jesus,  we  know,  set  in  the  very  center  of  his  en- 
deavor for  humanity  the  great  principle  of  love,  which  had  been 
too  much  neglected  by  previous  teachers.  We  find  it  in  the  Old 
Testament,  in  Buddhism  and  elsewhere,  but  nowhere  do  we  find 
it  so  set  in  the  center  of  the  moral  system,  or  made  so  command- 
ing, as  in  the  Christian  religion.  Therefore  I  say  this  great  prin- 
ciple, in  the  course  of  time,  if  rightly  developed  and  applied,  would 
develop  all  of  these  social  reforms  and,  doubtless,  has  done  so, 
for  love  is  the  inspiring  soul  of  them  all. 

But  there  is  danger,  I  sometimes  think,  lest  we  claim  too  much 
for  our  Christianity,  and  think  that  its  historical  precepts  and  ex^ 
amples  can  solve  all  our  problems.  For  even  love,  uninstructed 
and  unguided,  is  not  sufficient  for  all  our  social  needs  to-day. 

The  question  of  the  prevention  of  the  evils  of  our  time  still 
remains.  What  part  can  the  minister  take  in  bringing  about  our 
needed  social  reforms?  It  was  almost  pitiful  the  other  day  to  hear 
certain  ministers  asking  of  a  speaker  who  addressed  them  on  the 
social  question,  "What  can  we  do?  How  can  we  contribute  any- 
thing toward  the  solution  of  these  problems?  The  moment  we 
bring  these  matters  into  our  pulpits  we  are  warned  by  the  deacons 
that  this  is  politics,  with  which  the  pulpit  has  no  concern,  etc. 
They  say  to  us,  'Appeal  to  us  as  individuals,  tell  us  about  our  per- 
sonal sins ;  not  the  sins  of  society.  Let  not  our  church  be  an  eco- 
nomic club,  but  a  great  power-house  where  we  generate  the  moral 
force  which  then  can  be  gradually  distributed  through  the  com- 
munity and  manifest  itself  in  various  ways  for  its  betterment.'  " 

I  think  this  power-house  illustration  has  been  worked  a  good 
deal ;  too  many  have  found  an  excuse  for  their  indifference  or  lazi- 
ness in  it;    yet  there  is  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  it,  too.     We  must 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 61_ 

appeal  to  the  individual  conscience  and  will  of  our  hearers.  I 
recently  heard  a  young  clergyman  preach  on  "The  individual  and 
social  justice."  He  began  by  saying,  "We  must  cease  considering 
man  as  an  individual ;  we  must  define  him  in  social  terms  always ; 
the  day  of  individualism  has  passed  forever."  That  strikes  me  as 
a  very  limited  conception  of  ministerial  or  personal  duty  and  re- 
sponsibility.    It  certainly  was  not  the  gospel  of  Theodore  Parker, 

We  are  told  that  some  ministers  do  not  enter  into  this  thing 
with  their  whole  heart,  but  from  a  desire  to  help  their  churches, 
or  because  social  work  is  popular  just  now,  or  because  they  hope 
to  escape  many  theological  doubts  and  difficulties  by  throwing 
themselves  into  this  v/ork  of  social  reform.  But  if  you  do  this 
work — this  social  work — in  such  a  spirit,  you  do  it  as  a  by-product 
merely  of  vour  religious  or  denominational  endeavor,  and,  conse- 
quently, it  is  limited,  it  is  poor  and  ineffective. 

For  my  part  I  have  come  more  and  more  to  believe  that  our 
ignorance  as  ministers  on  these  social-economic  subjects  is  colossal; 
that  our  theological  training  has  not  fitted  us  for  it.  The  few 
helps  we  get  in  the  training  schools  on  the  study  of  sociology  is 
of  no  great  assistance  to  us.  Yet  the  treatment  of  social  ques- 
tions demands  the  finest  minds,  the  most  thorough  information ;  it 
demands  a  large  observation  and  experience;  it  demands  a  mastery 
of  all  rhe  resources  of  the  subject;  it  demands  the  entire  consecra- 
tion of  the  man  or  woman  devoted  to  it.  But  we  ministers  enter 
it  unprepared  or  with  divided  interest,  divided  between  our  service 
to  our  congregation  and  the  social  need. 

And  so  it  is  very  hard  for  the  minister  to-day  to  engage  in 
this  work  as  he  would  like.  I  would  fall  back,  therefore,  on  Theo- 
dore Parker,  and  follow  his  method  of  agitating  the  social  ques- 
tion constantly  in  his  pulpit,  calling  attention  to  the  wrongs  of 
suffering  humanity,  to  the  inequalities  of  human  existence,  to  so- 
cial injustice,  and  to  the  right  of  our  fellow  beings  to  have  more 
of  the  comforts  and  compensations  of  life  which  we  enjoy.  This 
appeal  to  men's  consciences  and  hearts,  this  endeavor  to  impel  them 
more  and  more  to  reformative  work,  it  seems  to  me,  if  a  man 
has  any  persuasive  power  at  all,  is  a  legitimate  and  important 
service  which  the  minister  can  render. 

Theodore  Parker  did  not,  after  all,  engage  much  in  the  prac- 
tical, reconstructive  and  readjusting  work  of  his  time.'  He  pro- 
claimed principles,  he  imparted  instruction,  he  made  noble  appeals, 
and  he  thus  rendered  a  high  service  to  the  thousands  who  listened 
to  or  read  his  sermons.  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  his  greatest  work 
was  the  proclamation  of  truth,  ethical  and  social,  from  Sunday  to 
Sunday,  arousing  men's  minds,  stirring  their  consciences,  enlarg- 
ing their  sympathies,  and  so  bringing  them  into  more  intelligent; 
personal  touch  with  poverty,  with  the  distress  and  the  injustice 
and  wrong  that  confront  us  on  every  hand.     In  so  doing  he  ren- 


62 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

dered  his  largest  service  to  humanity,  and  here,  I  think,  he  may 
help  us  in  our  problems  as  clergymen  and  ethical  teachers. 


Miss  Addams  :  We  will  next  hear  from  the  Rev.  F,  C.  South- 
worth,  who  is  now  president  of  the  Meadville  Theological  School, 
but  who  used  to  be  a  plain  Chicago  clergyman — I  mean  plain  in 
the  sense  of  not  being  president  of  anything. 

Meadville,  Pa. 

Madam  President  and  Friends : — I  have  come  in  too  late  to 
get  fully  into  the  spirit  of  these  meetings.  Mrs.  Spencer  was  al- 
ready speaking,  and  after  the  heights  to  which  she  carried  us,  I 
feel  that  it  were  perhaps  better  if  the  subject  were  left  at  that 
point. 

I  rise,  therefore,  not  to  make  a  further  contribution,  but  to 
express  my  own  gratitude,  as  Dr.  Wendte  has  done  for  me,  for 
the  way  in  which  she  has  dealt  with  the  subject  and  for  the  pos- 
sibilities toward  which  she  has  pointed  us.  Dr.  Wendte,  in  pur- 
suing the  subject,  has  told  us  something  of  the  perplexities  which 
present  themselves  in  our  time  to  a  minister  of  religion  who  is 
offered  the  opportunity  from  Sunday  to  Sunday  of  addressing 
himself  to  the  fundamental  religious  verities,  and  is  trying  to  es- 
tablish a  contact  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite,  to  remedy 
weakness  of  will,  to  grapple  with  evil  conditions  that  confront  the 
individual  and  the  temptations  by  which  he  is  beset;  and  is  con- 
tinually hampered  and  retarded  in  this  work  by  certain  unsolved 
social  and  industrial  problems  which  confront  the  modern  world. 

There  is  a  chasm  between  the  church  and  the  world  to-day, 
and  we  are  looking  to  such  people  as  Miss  Addams  and  Mrs. 
Spencer  and  Mr.  Jones,  people  that  are  standing  upon  the  high 
places  of  observation  and  are  really  accomplishing  something  in 
this  direction,  to  point  out  to  us  ministers  the  way  in  which  the 
chasm  may  be  bridged.  The  minister  of  religion  seems  in  some 
places  to  be  in  danger  of  losing  his  opportunity  to  address  the 
souls  and  consciences  of  men  at  the  very  time  when  men  in  other 
walks  of  life  are  discovering  such  opportunities  in  abundance. 

I  had  the  privilege  a  year  ago  of  spending  a  couple  of  months 
in  England.  I  arrived  in  that  country  a  day  or  two  after  the 
famous  budget  speech  of  David  Lloyd  George,  a  speech  which, 
though  ostensibly  devoted  to  finance,  was  actually  one  of  the  most 
powerful  sermons  given  in  our  generation,  and  given  to  a  congre- 
gation consisting  of  nearly  the  whole  population  of  the  British 
Isles  who  had  access  the  next  day  to  the  morning  papers  and  were 
able  to  read.  Mr.  Lloyd  George  won  for  this  address  the  atten- 
tion of  all  the  people  in  England  because  in  the  first  place  he  was 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 63 

dealing  with  real  conditions  and  not  with  imaginary  ones  and,  in 
the  second  place,  he  was  in  a  position  where  his  words  were  likely 
to  have  some  effect.  The  minister  of  religion  in  our  time  often 
fails  to  make  an  impression  because  the  people  are  in  doubt  as 
to  whether  he  is  dealing  with  live  issues,  and  are  sure  in  any  case 
that  he  is  not  dealing  with  them  in  a  live  way. 

This  now  famous  budget  speech  to  which  I  have  referred  is 
only  one  indication  out  of  many,  of  a  growing  interest  among  the 
English  people  in  such  questions  as  poverty,  unemployment,  old- 
age  pensions,  the  tenure  of  the  land,  and  other  social  conditions 
with  which  religion  has  been,  ever  since  the  time  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets,  very  intimately  concerned.  It  is  a  striking  fact,  however, 
that  along  with  this  increase  of  social  consciousness  there  has  gone 
a  diminution  in  the  number  of  worshipers  in  the  churches.  There 
has  been,  in  other  words,  in  England  as  well  as  in  America  a  grow- 
ing chasm  between  the  churches  and  the  masses,  and  the  hopeful 
element  in  the  situation  over  there  is  that  the  churches  seem  now 
to  be  thoroughly  awake  to  this  condition.  Not  only  organizations 
like  the  League  for  Progressive  Thought  and  Social  Service,  of 
which  Mr.  Campbell  is  the  head,  but  also  the  great  church  of 
England  and  nearly  all  the  non-conformist  denominations  are  try- 
ing to  make  a  contribution  in  their  organized  capacity  to  the  so- 
lution of  the  social  problem.  There  is  at  least  some  encourage- 
ment for  Christian  ministers  in  the  fact  that  leaders  of  the 
people,  like  David  Lloyd  George,  have,  many  of  them,  had  their  in- 
spiration in  the  churches  for  undertaking  to  deal  with  this  problem 
with  an  energy  and  eft'ectiveness  hitherto  unknown. 

We  have  been  somewhat  slower  in  America  than  in  England 
to  learn  the  possibilities  of  co-operative  social  service  in  the  name 
of  religion.  The  churches  in  America  have  a  glorious  record  in 
the  inspiration  they  have  given  to  individuals,  who,  in  the  spirit  of 
Theodore  Parker,  are  working  for  better  social  conditions.  They 
will,  probably,  as  time  goes  by  learn  that  there  is  a  great  common 
work  which  they  can  do  effectively  only  when  they  act  together. 


Mr.  Jones:  Miss  Addams,  we  have  just  listened  to  one  head 
of  a  school  of  the  prophets,  who  has  applied  himself  to  the  most 
difficult  problem  of  to-day, — I  am  not  going  to  make  a  speech, — 
I  was  just  going  to  say  we  have  another  head  of  an  institution 
here  whom  we  ought  to  hear  from.  We  have  here  Dr.  Fisher, 
president  of  Lombard  University  at  Galesburg,  and  I  think  the 
logical  sequence  would  indicate  that  he  should  make  the  next  speech. 

Miss  Addams  :  I  am  sure  we  should  be  very  happy  to  hear 
from  Mr.  Fisher. 


64 THEODORE   PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

Galesburg,  Illinois 

I  have  a  great  admiration  for  the  courage  of  Dr.  Southworth 
who  dares  to  stand  up  here  and  admit  that  he  is  president  of  a 
theological  school.  I  should  hardly  have  ventured  anything  of 
that  kind,  but  as  he  has  preceded  me,  I  must  also  plead  guilty  of 
being  at  the  head  of  the  theological  school  at  Galesburg  founded 
by  Dr.  Ryder  formerly  of  this  city.  It  is  not  very  often  that  I 
acknowledge  this  because  the  theological  school  seems  to  be  the 
butt  of  everybody's  wit.  Doctor  Wendte  this  morning  has  hinted 
at  the  inadequacy  of  the  modern  theological  school.  He  put  it 
very  mildly.  Generally  we  are  accused  of  being  worse  than  in- 
adequate. We  are  something  that  a  minister  has  to  recover  from 
and  outgrow  and  entirely  forget  before  he  can  hope  to  be  of  any 
use. 

Now,  the  trouble  with  the  critics  of  the  theological  schools  is 
that  they  expect  us  to  take  raw  material  and  in  three  or  four  years 
develop  men  wlio  know  as  much  as  you  do  after  twenty-five  years  of 
study  and  experience.  The  fact  is  that  the  modern  theological 
school  is  easily  equal  to  the  best  professional  schools  we  have  and 
is  accomplishing  excellent  results. 

I  confess  that  the  work  of  the  divinity  school  is  in  somewhat 
of  a  transitory  state.  I  can  easily  remember  when  the  whole  teach- 
ing in  these  schools  was  abstract  theology,  and  personal  religion, 
which  simply  meant  to  prepare  young  men  to  fix  people  so  they 
were  sure  to  go  to  a  good  place  and  escape  a  bad  place  after  death. 
I  am  very  glad  to  acknowledge  that  our  interest  in  that  sort  of 
personal  religion  and  theology  has  lessened  perceptibly.  We  to- 
day are  much  more  intensely  interested  in  knowing  what  sort  of 
a  man  or  woman  we  are  taking  to  the  place  we  shall  go  to  after 
we  die,  than  we  are  in  the  exact  location  or  temperature  of  that 
place.  To-day  we  are  told  that  we  need  not  train  men  in  theo- 
logy nor  in  personal  religion  but  only  for  social  service.  The 
emphasis  just  now  is  on  the  oneness  of  the  social  group  and  the 
supreme  importance  of  the  social  problems.  Religion  is  nothing, 
theology  is  less  than  nothing,  the  thing  now  is  to  lose  one's  life  in 
social  service. 

Now  this  is  just  as  surely  an  extreme  position  as  was  that  of 
the  generation  before  us  in  their  emphasis  on  abstract  theology,  and 
thiC  mystical  relation  with  God  called  personal  religion. 

What  we  want,  of  course,  is  to  learn  how  to  harmonize  both 
these  extremes  in  a  true  philosophy  of  existence.  We  want  to  de- 
velop the  strong  individual  with  a  rational  theology  and  a  pro- 
found sense  of  his  accountability  to  God ;  we  also  want  each  man 
to  see  that  he  is  bound  in  the  great  bundle  of  life  with  all  souls, 
and  that  he  must  serve  others  or  be  lost  himself.  I  came  to  Chi- 
cago last  year  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  Religious  Education 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 65 

Association.  Here  the  whole  air  was  full  of  criticism  of  the  col- 
leges for  not  making  all  the  students  religious.  But,  out  of  it  all, 
I  have  to  confess  that  I  did  not  detect  a  single  definition  of  what 
we  mean  by  religion.  There  was  much  contemptuous  criticism  of 
theology  and  sectarianism ;  there  was  agreement  that  we  ought  to 
make  the  boys  and  girls  in  our  colleges  more  moral,  give  them 
higher  ethical  standards.  I  knew  perfectly  well  that  we  ought  to 
do  all  this  before  I  went  to  these  meetings ;  but  I  have  to  confess 
that  I  went  back  to  my  work  without  any  idea  whatever  as  to  how 
to  accomplish  these  most  desirable  things.  I  am  still  old-fashioned 
enough  to  believe  that  we  shall  not  have  better  morals,  higher 
ethical  standards  without  the  philosophy  of  existence  furnished  by 
a  true  theology,  and  the  sanctions  and  inspirations  of  personal  re- 
ligion. We  still  need  the  vivid  sense  of  a  personal  God  which 
Theodore  Parker  so  clearly  had — his  sense  of  the  personal  God 
without  any  limitations  of  personality  or  of  impersonality. 

That  deep  conviction  was  the  foundation  of  his  power,  the 
inspiration  and  sanction  of  his  brave  conduct.  We  shall  get  no 
ethics  and  morals  on  any  other  basis  at  any  time. 

Our  divinity  schools  to-day  need  to  impart  to  young  men  the 
same  passion  for  clear  thinking  in  theology,  the  same  vivid  sense 
of  the  personal  God,  which  made  Theodore  Parker  a  big  enough 
man  to  send  an  influence  across  a  half  century  strong  enough  to 
call  us  together  here  to-day.  The  amount  of  work  and  study  that 
Theodore  Parker  did  before  and  during  and  after  his  course  in 
the  theological  school  makes  us  seem  indolent  to  ourselves.  He 
shortened  his  earthly  life  by  the  intensity  of  thought  and  utterance 
of  those  brief  years.  Just  the  same.  I  am  glad  he  did  it.  More 
than  most  men  do  in  a  hundred  years  did  he  make  his  thoughts 
vibrate  through  our  thoughts  and  stir  us  to  social  endeavor  like 
God's  own  chosen  prophet. 


Mr.  Jones  in  the  chair. 

Mr.  Jones:  Miss  Addams  has  been  called  out,  and  she  asked 
me  to  take  the  chair.  We  still  have  certainly  fifteen  minutes  more 
before  it  is  necessary  to  adjourn.  I  shall  be  glad  to  know  the 
pleasure  of  this  audience;  or  hear  from  any  one  who  is  moved  to 
bear  testimony.  Who  wants  to  speak?  Whom  do  you  want  to 
hear? 

There  is  one  perennial  fountain  of  information  and  inspira- 
tion which  Chicago  has  discovered  lying  to  the  eastward.  When- 
ever we  catch  Edwin  D.  Mead,  all  we  have  to  do  is  to  touch  the 
button  and  we  have  streams  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  and  infor- 
mation. Mr.  Mead  has  been  heard  already  to  the  delight  of  many 
this  week,  to  the  regret  of  many  that  he  could  not  go  on  and  on 
indefinitely.  It  was  not  through  the  lack  of  material  on  the  part 
of  Mead,  but  through  the  limitations  of  the  clock.  Mead,  come 
and  tell  us  something:. 


66 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

AJibrpfiB  bg  Mr,  Slimtn  i.  iM?ab 

I  confess,  Mr.  Jones  and  friends,  that  I  do  not  quite  like  to 
be  thought  of  as  one  who  is  on  tap  for  all  sorts  of  things.  There 
are  a  few  things  on  which  I  do  have  strong  feelings  and  strong 
convictions ;  and  among  them  are  Theodore  Parker  and  the  various 
influences  which  he  exerted.  I  thought,  as  I  heard  Mrs.  Spencer 
and  heard  the  subsequent  words  here,  of  two  interesting  stories. 
One  is  known  perhaps  to  most  of  you.  Somebody  was  trying  to 
define  the  difference  between  the  old  and  the  new  philanthropy ; 
and  he  said  that  the  old  philanthropy  was  illustrated  by  the  Good 
Samaritan  who,  when  he  found  the  man  who  had  fallen  among 
thieves  and  was  left  robbed  and  sick  and  wounded,  took  him  to 
some  place  corresponding  to  the  modern  Mills  hotel  and  had  him 
cared  for  and  paid  the  bill — but  that  modern  philanthropy,  after 
relieving  a  certain  number  of  these  poor  sufferers,  made  up  its 
mind  that  the  thing  to  do  was  to  clear  the  Jericho  road  of  thieves. 
That  about  describes  the  change. 

The  other  story  is  this,  and  it  too  is  not  new.  It  has  been  re- 
vived since  the  death  of  Mrs,  Howe.  The  story  goes  that  in  one 
of  the  old  Chestnut  street  meetings  in  Boston,  at  which  Charles 
Sumner  and  others  were  present  with  Mrs.  Howe,  some  especially 
sad  case  had  been  considered  by  the  good  friends,  and  somebody 
tried  to  enlist  Sumner's  interest  in  it.  He  said,  so  the  story  goes — 
and  Mr.  Sanborn  recently  assured  me  that  it  is  not  a  myth — that 
he  no  longer  had  any  time  for  individual  cases ;  he  was  concerned 
now  only  with  the  masses.  Mrs.  Howe,  who  heard  the  words,  at 
once  exclaimed :  ''Is  it  possible,  Charles  ?  Why,  you  have  got  fur- 
ther on  than  God  Almighty!" 

Now,  if  we  adjust  those  things,  reconcile  the  morals  of  the 
two  stories,  I  think  we  shall  hit  it  about  right;  and  Theodore 
Parker  did  adjust  them.  Mrs.  Spencer  in  several  ways  has  pointed 
out  the  methods  of  reconciliation. 

I  was  impressed  by  what  Mr.  Southworth  said  in  character- 
izing that  historic  budget  speech  of  David  Lloyd  George  as  a  great 
sermon,  and  telling  us  that  the  preachers  of  England  are  awaken- 
ing and  connecting  themselves  so  much  more  directly  with  philan- 
thropic and  social  reform  work.  Now,  Theodore  Parker,  in  his 
day,  would  have  done  in  a  similar  situation  precisely  what  Lloyd 
George  did ;  he  would  have  brought  himself  to  bear  in  the  effort 
to  settle  a  lot  of  these  social  evils  by  legislation,  and  his  speeches 
for  that  purpose  would  have  been  fervent  sermons,  albeit  packed 
with  facts.  Not  only  are  the  churches  waking  up  to  this  duty  of 
bringing  themselves  as  religious  people  to  bear  upon  the  social 
problems  in  England,  but  they  are  doing  it  in  this  country,  and 
doing  it  in  every  direction.  It  was  only  last  week  that  I  attended 
a  meeting  of  our  committee  of  fifteen,  recently  appointed  by  our 
Unitarian  body  to  consider  what  Unitarians  can  and  ought  to  do 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 67 

upon  these  lines  of  philanthropy  and  social  reform;  and  the  inter- 
esting thing  to  me  is  the  discovery  that  so  many  of  the  other 
churches  are  ahead  of  us  in  such  plans.  The  Christians — the  de- 
nomination so-called — have  laid  out  very  important  programs,  and 
are  urging  their  people  to  identify  themselves  by  distinct  co-opera- 
tion with  certain  specified  reforms.  I  could  speak  of  other  similar 
efforts. 

When  one  reads  the  two  volumes  of  his  social  reform  addresses, 
as  important  almost  as  the  two  volumes  of  anti-slavery  addresses, 
one  finds  that  Theodore  Parker  was  discussing  all  these  great  ques- 
tions that  we  are  considenng  here  to-day,  crime,  poverty,  the  greed 
and  tyranny  of  the  privileged  classes,  the  need  of  public  education 
and  all  the  rest,  and  discussing  them  precisely  in  the  spirit  of  to- 
day. Read  those  three  great  sermons  upon  the  laboring  classes, 
the  dangerous  classes,  and  the  perishing  classes — and  also  the  ad- 
dress to  the  mercantile  class.  If  Samuel  Barrows  were  here  this 
hour,  talking  about  crime  and  its  punishment,  he  would  talk  sub- 
rtantially  as  Theodore  Parker  talked.  If  people  from  the  Saga- 
more Conference  were  here  talking  about  the  moral  and  social 
duties  of  the  home,  they  would  talk  in  the  same  strain  as  Theodore 
Parker  talked  in  his  noble  address  upon  that  very  subject.  My 
own  firm  conviction  is  that  in  these  social  discussions  where  we 
talk  so  much  about  the  duties  of  the  state  and  of  the  church  and 
of  the  schools,  making  these  responsible  for  so  much,  we  are  fun- 
damentally neglecting  the  great  social  duty  of  the  home,  a  duty 
terribly  neglected.  It  is  the  American  home,  which  in  too  many 
cases  becomes  simply  a  place  to  eat  and  sleep  in,  the  American 
home  which  needs  to  be  roused  to  its  social  and  moral  duty.  We 
are  holding  the  church  and  the  school  and  other  institutions  of 
society,  I  repeat,  responsible  for  the  things  where  the  home  is 
really  deficient  and  to  blame.  Theodore  Parker  understood  the 
moral  and  social  duty  of  the  home. 

I  cannot  help  remembering  with  gratitude  here  this  morning, 
where  a  woman  has  been  presiding  and  where  a  woman  has  led 
our  thought;  of  the  immense  service  of  Theodore  Parker  to  woman, 
to  her  cause,  to  her  rights  and  her  capacities  in  the  social  field. 
Let  us  remember  that  here  to-day,  remember  his  powerful  address 
upon  the  Public  Function  of  Women. 

The  point  of  all,  it  seems  to  me — it  is  simply  another  echo  of 
the  moral  of  our  two  stories — is  that  we  should  mingle  our  science 
with  sympathy.  I  know  of  few  more  beautiful  texts  in  the  Bible 
than  this :  "I  will  inquire  in  Thy  temple."  We  never  come  to  the 
right  kind  of  knowledge  in  the  right  way  unless  knowledge  is 
gained  in  reverence ;  and  similarly  science  will  never  do  the  work 
that  philanthropy  demands  save  when  it  is  informed  and  controlled 
by  sympathy. 

I  remember  the  last  time  I  was  in  this  room — I  think  it  was 
in  this  room  in  Hull  House,  Mr.  Jones  will  remember — was  when 


68 THEODORE   PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

I  came  out  here  to  help  him  and  Miss  Addams  and  the  rest,  after 
dear  Henry  Lloyd  died,  speak  of  Lloyd's  great  service  for  social 
reform  and  social  righteousness  in  Chicago.  Henry  D.  Lloyd  here 
in  this  great  city,  and  Jane  Addams  in  this  spot  where  we  are, 
have  taught  us  what  it  is  that  we  want,  the  aroused  conscience  of 
the  individual  socially  applied.  The  "new  conscience"  was  what 
Lloyd  talked  of,  by  which  he  meant  conscience  applied  to  the  social 
duties  of  this  new  time.  We  can  never  get  that  commanding  re- 
ligious feeling  in  this  matter,  of  which  Theodore  Parker  spoke — 
his  power  was  applied  to  the  great  social  problems  not  as  that  of 
a  man  apologizing  for  theologians  or  theology,  but  as  a  man  who 
believed  that  theology  is  the  very  center  of  the  business — unless 
we  know  that  this  is  God's  world  and  that  it  is  our  part  as  workers 
together  with  God  to  help  him  and  to  help  our  brothers  in  human 
society  realize  the  fundamental  ideals  of  the  Divine  commonwealth. 

Abbr^BB  bg  3?nktn  IGloi|li  Jottfa 

Again  we  run  up  against  the  limitations  of  time.  We  are  to 
meet  at  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre  this  afternoon. 

Of  course  a  celebration  of  Theodore  Parker,  without  some 
very  distinctive  and  pronounced  emphasis  placed  upon  his  central 
contention  in  the  interest  of  freedom  would  be  anomalous,  and  so 
we  have  a  voice  right  out  of  the  heart  of  the  emancipated  race. 
Mr.  Isaac  Fisher,  will,  in  our  presence,  this  afternoon,  answer  the 
question,  "Has  the  Negro  Kept  Faith  with  Theodore  Parker  and 
the  Other  Prophet  Souls  who  Suffered  for  Freedom's  Sake?"  Dr. 
Fleischer,  too  seldom  heard  in  Chicago,  will  also  speak.  Charles 
Beals  will  tell  us  of  the  fifty  years  of  progress  away  from  war, 
which  was  another  high  contention  of  Theodore  Parker. 

I  was  glad  Mr.  Mead  put  an  emphasis  on  another  point  that 
was  dear  to  Theodore  Parker's  heart,  and  which  the  world  neglects, 
and  upon  which  the  emphasis  of  this  program  is  inadequate,  and 
that  is  the  woman's  side  of  Parker's  message.  I  am  going  to  make 
a  confession ;  in  my  own  mind  Parker's  work  for  woman  loomed 
up  so  large,  in  my  own  heart  it  made  such  large  claims  for  a  place 
in  this  .program  that  I  yielded  to  a  big  dream  which  did  not  ma- 
terialize. 

I  had  hoped  that  the  Woman's  Club,  or  clubs,  would  claim 
tomorrow  morning  so  that  there  might  be  an  adequate  recognition  of 
Theodo^-c  Parker's  place  in  the  woman's  movement,  but  that  plan 
miscarried.  I  will  not  say  it  was  not  for  an  adequate  reason.  It 
was  because  our  women  are  so  busy  that  they  didn't  have  time  to 
do  it.  I  was  directed  by  Miss  Addams  to  one,  of  whom  she  said 
that  if  anybody  would  attend  to  it,  she  would ;  but  she  didn't.  So, 
please  take  the  blank  in  the  program  as  my  recognition  of  the 
woman's  place  in  this  program ;  this  was  the  best  I  could  do. 

Now,  before  you  go  to  dinner,  may  I  add  two  considerations 


THE  HULL  HOUSE  MEETING 69 

very  fundamental  in  my  sense  of  gratitude  to  Theodore  Parker. 
One  is  the  splendid  spiritual  economy  of  discontent  with  what  is, 
born,  not  out  of  a  grouch  against  things  existing,  but  out  of  a 
vision  of  things  that  ought  to  be.  He  was  a  prophet  of  the  holy 
discontent  in  the  interest  of  the  sublimcr  possibilities.  Whenever 
I  hear  superficial  criticism  of  those  who  are  discontented  with  the 
existing  order,  I  take  shelter  under  the  inspiration  of  Theodore 
Parker.  It  is  not  fault-finding,  it  is  prophesying.  I  have  no  need 
of  apologies  for  Theodore  Parker's  vehemence ;  I  am  restive  under 
a  certain  deliberate,  polite,  slippered  and  qualified  disposition  to 
excuse  Parker  for  his  vehemence. 

Apologize  for  Amos?  For  Micah?  Because  they  talked  in 
such  plain  words  about  the  iniquities  about  them?  Apologize  for 
that  incident,  whatever  it  was,  that  lies  back  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment story  of  the  whip  of  small  cords?  Apologize  for  the  Master 
for  saying,  "Hypocrites,  liars,  vipers"? 

Why,  the  truth  is  that  human  vision  cannot  measure  the  enor- 
mities of  injustice,  of  slavery,  of  selfishness,  of  complacency,  and  I 
am  glad,  very  glad,  that  Parker  let  himself  loose.  I  am  glad  that 
he  was  a  man  of  many  dictionaries ;  he  needed  all  the  linguistical 
achievement  that  the  mastery  of  twenty  languages  afiforded  to  ade- 
quately express  his  feelings  against  the  ethical  indignities  of  his 
times. 

When  eleven  years  old,  he  picked  huckleberries  and  bought 
the  first  book  for  his  library,  which  he  showed  to  Colonel  Higgin- 
son  with  pride.  It  was  Ainsworth's  Latin  Dictionary.  He  needed 
big  words,  hard  words  and  strong  words,  such  as  the  case  de- 
manded. 

The  other  emphasis,  which  was  so  dear  to  me  in  my  younger 
student  days — I  have  stacks  of  note  books,  and,  with  all  due  re- 
spect to  my  Alma  Mater,  I  have  a  good  many  which  I  have  never 
opened ;  but  I  will  never  forget  the  training  and  inspiration  I  re- 
ceived at  Meadville  when  I  went  through  Theodore  Parker's  "Dis- 
course on  Religion."  That  book  cleared  the  atmosphere,  pointed 
the  way  for  me,  stirred  my  heart,  and  I  have  lived  on  it  ever  since. 
That  book  epitomized  his  faith  in  God.  It  was  a  faith  in  the 
essential  and  absolute  unity  of  the  human  race  disclosed  in  its 
inspirations  and  idealities  as  well  as  in  its  needs.  That  book  came 
to  me  when  my  faith  in  God  was  inchoate,  when  my  grip  on  things 
eternal  was  uncertain,  when  under  the  lead  of  Professor  Hamilton's 
metaphysics  and  the  saintly  Gary  I  floundered  and  did  not  know 
where  I  would  come  out.  But  that  book  of  Parker's  "Discourse 
on  Religion"  led  me  through  underground  conduits  into  the  heart 
of  permanence.  I  found  a  home  in  the  kindly,  capacious  bosom 
of  the  religious  faith  of  the  world,  and  I  found  that  there  was 
a  chorus  of  faith  in  which  the  noblest  of  the  earth  joined,  which 
declared  at  least  three  things,  the  fundamental  existence  of  God, 


70 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

the  reality  of  the  moral  law  and  the  hunger  for  continuity — God, 
conscience,  immortality,  were  disclosed  to  me  through  Parker's 
learning,  Parker's  prophetic  learning,  for  he  discovered  the  central 
things  in  the  messages  of  the  religions  and  the  religious  of  the 
world ;  and  if  there  is  anything  the  matter  with  the  churches — I 
don't  know  as  there  is ;  if  there  is  anything  the  matter  with  the 
theological  schools — and  I  don't  say  there  is — it  is  because  the 
churches  and  the  theological  schools  and  we  preachers  have  not 
laid  hold  in  an  inspiring  way  of  the  fundamental  unity  of  the  human 
race,  a  unity  emphasized  by  its  longings,  its  yearnings,  its  aspira- 
tions, its  inspirations,  as  well  as  the  unities  of  the  stomach  and  the 
back. 

When  we  catch  that  divine  sense  of  spiritual  unity  running 
through  each  community,  founded  away  down  upon  the  founda- 
tion rocks  of  creation,  how  petty  and  small  do  these  little  surface 
lines  appear,  mere  scratches  on  the  maps,  which  show  the  dividing 
lines  between  the  territory  occupied  by  Baptist  and  Presbyterian, 
Jew  and  Mohammedan.  How  superficial  the  lines  so  painfully  sus- 
tained between  employer  and  employe,  between  the  Jewish  button- 
hole maker  and  the  Jewish  millionaire  in  his  automobile. 

Strip  them  of  the  externals  and  the  all-seeing  eye  could  not 
tell  one  from  the  other,  they  are  all  so  precious  to  Him. 

The  burden  of  this  century  is  to  apply  the  law  of  combination 
and  co-operation  in  the  commercial  world  today,  as  opposed  to  the 
law  of  competition,  rivalry,  segregation  and  antagonism. 

Parker's  voice  rings  through  the  half  century  that  has  followed 
his  death  and  pleads  with  us  to  get  together,  to  lay  hold  of  the  uni- 
versalities, to  join  hands,  all  hands  around. 

I  like  the  frontispiece  that  William  Morris  drew  with  his  own 
hands  for  his  "News  from  Nowhere."  In  the  English  edition  of 
that  book  you  will  see  the  workmen  of  the  world  with  the  imple- 
ments of  their  trade  in  the  foreground,  the  hammer  and  the  square, 
the  plumb  line ;  the  blacksmith  and  the  mason  and  the  carpenter, 
the  mechanics  of  Europe,  of  Asia,  America  and  Africa,  joining 
hands  in  a  merry-go-round,  around  the  globe,  belting  the  world 
with  labor.  I  wish  William  Morris,  or  his  successor,  would  re- 
draw that  frontispiece,  and  say  to  those  workmen,  "Break  away; 
give  room  for  more ;  let  in  the  scholars,  let  in  the  preachers,  let  in 
the  white-handed  laborers  of  the  study  and  thought  laboratory. 
Make  the  circle  larger,  and  then  cry,  'All  hands  around !  All 
hands  around  the  world !'  " 

There  is  a  unity,  social  unity,  a  potent  and  efficient  unity,  join- 
ing black  and  white,  Jew  and  Christian,  rich  and  poor. 

Parker  laid  hold  of  this  principle  with  such  clear  vision  and 
such  splendid  conviction  that  he  has  been  the  guide  and  the  com- 
fort and  consolation  to  men  innumerable,  among  whom  I  want  to 
claim  an  humble  place. 

(Adjourned.) 


5IIl^  Abraljam  Sinrnln  (H^tttr^  ii^rting 

3pnkttt  IClngiii  Santa,  ^rmhtng 
WrhnpH&ag  Aftfrn00n,  Noti^mbtr  16. 1910 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 73 

Abral)am  Sjinrcln  (E^ «tr^ 

Wednesday  Afternoon  Session,  November  16,  1910 


REV.  JENKIN  LLOYD  JONES,  Presiding 


Mr.  Jones  :  Friends,  this  is  to  me  an  impressive  hour,  one 
freighted  with  many  memories  and  high  inspirations,  one  related  to 
much  that  is  profound  in  my  experience,  fundamental  in  my  life. 
This  is  a  moment  that  is  illuminated  with  some  of  the  lasting  in- 
spirations of  my  life — John  Brown,  Theodore  Parker,  Abraham 
Lincoln  and  all  that  these  words  imply. 

I  always  delight  to  tell,  and  most  of  you  have  heard  me  tell 
more  than  once,  how,  when  the  grim  call  to  battle  came,  shattering 
my  boyish  dreams  of  school  and  culture,  and  I  followed  the  flag 
to  the  front,  while  other  boys  whistled  up  their  courage  often  by 
saying,  "We  are  down  here  to  save  the  Union,"  I  used  to  say, 
"You  can  save  the  Union.     I  am  down  here  to  free  the  slave!" 

It  was  an  accident,  strange  and  curious,  quaint  and  amusing, 
that  put  me  onto  the  track  of  the  one  who  is  to  answer  the  question 
this  afternoon,  "Has  the  Negro  kept  faith  with  Theodore  Parker 
and  the  brave  men  who  with  him  suffered  for  freedom's  sake?"  In 
other  words,  was  it  worth  while,  were  they  worth  while?  Has 
history  vindicated  the  tremendous  inspirations  of  Theodore  Parker, 
the  sublime  sacrifice  of  John  Brown,  the  far-reaching  and  saga- 
cious statesmanship  of  Abraham  Lincoln? 

We  are  about  to  be  addressed  by  Isaac  Fisher,  whom  I  found 
directing  the  singing  with  orchestral  accompaniment  of  a  bright 
body  of  young  men  and  women  of  color,  numbering  perhaps  four 
hundred,  on  a  damp,  dark,  foggy  March  morning,  'way  down  south 
at  Pine  Bluff,  Arkansas.  That  name,  I  suspect,  carries  but  little 
connotation  to  the  minds  of  any  one  here  present.  It  carried  no 
connotation  to  my  mind  until  that  visit.  When  out  riding  for  a 
morning's  exercise  on  horseback,  with  my  friend  Rabbi  Frisch  of 
that  town,  we  came  upon  this  modern  institution  with  farm  attach- 
ments, cows  of  the  Jersey  strain  and  all  that,  and  I  said,  "What 
is  this?"  "Why,"  he  said,  "this  is  the  Arkansas  branch  of  the 
Normal  School,  presided  over  by  Isaac  Fisher."  I  said,  "He  is 
the  man  I  want  to  see ;  I  am  going  to  get  off."  And  I  did  get  off. 
I  found  him  at  work.  I  brought  him  here.  He  will  answer  the 
question. 


74 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

President  Branch  Normal  School,  Pine  Bluff,  Arkansas 


HAS  THE  NEGRO  KEPT  FAITH  WITH  THEODORE 
PARKER  AND  THE  OTHER  PROPHET  SOULS  WHO 
SUFFERED  FOR  FREEDOM'S  SAKE? 

Mr.  President,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen :  We  are  gathered  here 
to  pay  homage  to  a  great  man  whose  simple  and  child-like  belief 
that  every  soul  is  divine,  led  him,  in  darker  days  than  these,  to 
work  for  "the  progress  of  mankind  onward  and  upward  forever." 
We  are  met  to  renew  and  increase  our  faith  in  the  beauty  and 
permanence  of  earnest  and  star-led  endeavor,  and  to  inquire 
whether  or  not  the  "great  heart"  whom  we  knew  as  Theodore 
Parker  lived  and  toiled  in  vain. 

To  other  witnesses  will  fall  the  task  of  reporting  the  results 
and  value  of  his  struggles  for  the  general  extension  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  brotherhood,  and  the  spread  of  eternal  truth  over  all  the 
earth.  In  an  humbler  way,  I  would  speak  of  the  results  of  the 
man's  labors  as  they  have  exhibited  themselves  in  the  post-bellum 
history  of  my  race,  and  will  answer  as  best  I  can  the  question 
whether  Theodore  Parker  and  the  other  brave  souls  who  suffered 
to  make  the  Negro  free,  labored  for  naught,  or  whether  the  Negro 
has  kept  faith  with  them. 

Let  us  establish  once  and  for  all  time  the  fact  that  the  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  freedom  is  more  desirable  than  bondage  has 
been  removed  from  the  forum  of  debate;  and  we  accept  as  a  first 
principle,  now,  the  conception  that,  however  slow  may  be  the 
progress  of  a  given  race  under  a  system  of  freedom,  that  progress 
is  necessarily  greater  than  could  have  been  true  in  the  same  country 
under  the  institution  of  slavery.  Planting  myself  firmly  upon  the 
truth  of  this  statement,  I  afirrm,  in  the  first  instance,  that,  inasmuch 
as  they  toiled  that  an  enslaved  race  might  be  free,  and  kept  the 
iniquity  of  slavery  before  the  people  until  the  national  conscience 
was  awakened — an  awakening  that  brought  freedom  to  the  whole 
land — the  labors  of  that  noble  band  of  lovers  of  liberty  to  which 
Theodore  Parker  belonged  have  not  been  in  vain,  because  no  strug- 
gle for  perfect  human  liberty  can  ever  fall  to  the  ground. 

But  what  of  the  Negro?  Has  he  justified  the  faith  of  his 
friends?  Has  he  brooded  over  his  struggles  in  America  until  he 
has  lost  that  gentle  spirit  which  made  him  so  pathetic  a  figure  during 
slavery,  and  which  dictated  his  supreme  faithfulness  during  the 
trying  days  of  the  Civil  War?  My  friends,  it  was  not  mere  rhetor- 
ical expediency  which  moved  the  eloquent  Grady  to  declare  that 
"history  has  no  parallel  to  the  faith  kept  by  the  Negro  in  the  South 
during  the  war."     Speaking  of  the  fidelity  of  my  race,  Mr.  Henry 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 75 

W.  Grady,  a  Southern  white  man  who  wore  the  gray  in  the  Civil 
War,  made  this  classic  recommendation  of  the  Negro: 

"Unmarshalled,the  black  battalions  moved  patiently  to  the  fields 
in  the  morning  to  feed  the  armies  their  idleness  would  have  starved, 
and  at  night  gathered  anxiously  at  the  big  house  to  'hear  the 
news  from  marster,'  though  conscious  that  his  victory  made  their 
chains  enduring.  Everywhere  humble  and  kindly ;  the  bodyguard 
of  the  helpless ;  the  rough  companion  of  the  little  ones ;  the  ob- 
servant friend ;  the  silent  sentry  in  his  lowly  cabin ;  the  shrewd 
counselor.  And  when  the  dead  came  home,  a  mourner  at  the  open 
grave.  A  thousand  torches  would  have  disbanded  every  Southern 
army,  but  not  one  was  lighted.  When  the  master,  going  to  a  war 
in  which  slavery  was  involved,  said  to  his  slave,  'I  leave  my  home 
and  loved  ones  in  your  care,'  the  tenderness  between  man  and 
master  stood  disclosed.  And  when  the  slave  held  that  charge  sacred 
through  storm  and  temptation,  he  gave  new  meaning  to  faith  and 
loyalty." 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  with  all  deference  to  the  Caucasian  for 
his  having  carried  aloft  the  torch  of  civilization  for  so  many  years 
through  the  ceaseless  ebb  and  flow  of  the  centuries,  despite  a 
glorious  record  of  achievement  of  which  you  may  be  proud,  there 
is  nothing  in  the  history  of  your  race  for  which  I  would  exchange 
that  voluntary  certificate  of  character;  for  if  it  required  a  burning 
love  of  liberty  and  a  high  degree  of  physical  courage  for  your 
ancestors  at  Runnymede  to  force  a  stubborn  King  John  to  sign 
the  Magna  Charta  of  English  liberty,  upon  which  this  common- 
wealth is  built,  it  requires  everywhere  and  at  all  times  that  fidelity 
of  man  to  man,  and  the  unwillingness  to  triumph  over  the  weak, 
which  the  Negro  showed  during  the  Civil  War  to  make  your  com- 
monwealths endure. 

In  the  sacredness  of  this  hour,  while  we  commune  with  the 
invisible  spirit  of  Theodore  Parker,  I  want  to  report  that  through 
storm  and  calm,  darkness  and  light,  the  Negro  has  kept  faith  with 
his  friends,  and  yet  retains  a  gentle  heart. 

More  than  this:  He  has  not  sulked  in  his  tent  and  refused 
to  help  advance  the  economic  progress  of  that  section  in  which  he 
was  so  long  a  slave.  As  a  bondman,  he  patiently  carried  the  labor 
burdens  of  the  South  upon  his  shoulders ;  but  as  a  freeman  he  has 
not  only  continued  to  create  wealth  for  the  South  and  the  common- 
wealth of  the  United  States,  but  his  muscles  of  iron,  more  and 
more  directed  by  intelligence  and  the  pride  which  freedom  gives, 
are  creating  and  conserving  riches  for  his  own  independence.  To 
the  intimation  that  he  will  not  work  I  merely  suggest  that  in  1900 
62  per  cent  of  all  Negroes  over  ten  years  of  age  in  the  United 
States  were  employed  in  gainful  occupations. 

Since  emancipation  the  great  masses  of  Negroes  living  in  the 
South  have  joined  their  brawn  and  intelligence  with  the  capital 
and  brain  of  their  former  masters,  and  have  helped  create  more 


76  THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 


wealth  than  that  section  ever  knew  before.  As  indicative  of  this 
growth  of  wealth,  I  may  say  that  in  the  year  1860  the  total  level 
of  ad  valorem  taxes  in  the  South  was,  in  round  numbers,  only 
$20,000,000;  in  1870  it  was  $40,000,000,  increasing  to  $44,- 
000,000  in  1880,  to  $69,000,000  in  1890,  and  reaching  $103,- 
000,000  in  1902,  proving  not  only  that  freedom  for  the  Negro  was 
a  good  business  investment  for  the  South,  but  showing  also  that 
the  colored  people,  furnishing  as  they  do  the  bulk  of  the  labor 
supply  for  that  section,  are  justifying  the  faith  of  those  who  be- 
lieved that  they  would  faithfully  work  to  help  rebuild  the  waste 
places  of  the  South  and  make  her  blossom  once  more  as  the  rose, 
if  only  the  boon  of  freedom  were  given  to  them. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Negro  has  been  creating  wealth  for 
himself.  Critics  often  disparage  the  achievements  of  the  free 
Negro,  forgetting  that,  even  if  he  has  not  accomplished  very  much 
as  a  freeman,  he  accomplished  infinitely  less  as  a  slave.  Just  before 
the  Civil  War  the  free  Negroes  in  the  United  States  owned  some 
$25,000,000  worth  of  property.  But  in  1909,  just  forty-six  years 
since  freedom  was  given  to  him,  the  Negro  had  gained  at  least 
$525,000,000  worth  of  property  more  than  the  race  had  been  able 
to  secure  during  the  250  years  of  slavery's  long  night ;  indeed, 
Negro  farmers  in  the  .South  alone  owned  in  1909  at  least  30,000 
square  miles  of  land,  an  amount  of  territory  almost  equal  to  the 
area  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont.  And  it  must  be  noted  that  the  most  of  this  wealth 
has  been  obtained  directly  from  the  soil ;  for  more  than  2,000,000 
Negroes,  or  53  per  cent  of  all  Negroes  engaged  in  gainful  pursuits 
in  1900,  were  found  in  agricultural  industries. 

But  all  of  the  Negro's  wealth  produced  since  emancipation 
does  not  consist  of  lands,  stocks  or  bonds.  If  I  were  to  list  the 
assets  of  my  race,  with  utter  disregard  for  the  accepted  definitions 
of  wealth,  I  would  place  first  in  the  inventory  the  name  of  a  man ; 
a  man  as  truly  set  apart  for  leadership  as  was  the  patriarch  Moses ; 
a  man  whose  love  for  his  own  race  is  as  beautiful  as  was  that  of 
the  maiden  Ruth  for  the  mother  of  her  husband ;  a  philosopher 
whose  teachings  have  as  profoundly  affected  his  day  as  ever  did 
those  of  heathen  sage  in  the  past ;  an  advocate  as  eloquent  and 
convincing  as  was  the  great  Webster  as  he  presented  a  brief  to 
posterity  for  an  everlasting  and  indivisible  Union ;  a  preacher  of 
the  gospel  of  salvation  by  character  as  earnest  and  inspired  as  was 
John  the  Baptist  of  old;  a  counselor  of  Presidents  and  statesmen; 
a  friend  of  kings,  and  an  inspirer  of  men ;  the  name  of  that  hero, 
scholar  and  Christian  gentleman  whose  rise  from  slavery  to  heights 
of  fame  thrills  every  heart  and  cheers  each  patriot  soul.  Booker  T. 
Washington,  my  great  teacher  and  a  great  asset  of  the  Negro  race. 
If  the  Negro  had  done  no  more  than  produce  this  great  man, 
Theodore  Parker  would  stand  vindicated  today. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 71 

In  matters  of  education,  the  black  man  has  kept  his  eyes  upon 
the  stars.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  after  hundreds  of  years  of 
freedom  and  opportunity,  Italy,  despite  all  the  glory  of  her  past, 
must  confess  that  38  per  cent  of  her  population  can  neither  read 
nor  write ;  Spain  must  acknowledge  a  percentage  of  illiteracy 
amounting  to  68  per  cent ;  Russia,  77  per  cent ;  Portugal,  79 ;  Brazil, 
80 ;  Venezuela,  75 ;  and  Cuba,  56  per  cent.  But  when  we  turn  to 
the  American  Negro  and  demand  his  rating,  we  find  that  although 
the  genius  of  slavery  sealed  up  the  book  of  knowledge  from  him 
for  two  and  one-half  centuries,  and  despite  the  fact  that  at  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War  90  per  cent  of  his  race  were  illiterate,  at 
the  end  of  the  thirty-seven  years  following  emancipation,  he  had 
reduced  his  percentage  of  illiteracy  to  47  per  cent ;  and,  according 
to  one  of  our  most  careful  students  of  the  history  of  the  race,  the 
census  of  1910  will  show  that  he  has  further  reduced  his  illiteracy 
to  32  per  cent;  and  the  number  of  his  teachers  is  increasing  with 
twice  the  rapidity  of  the  Negro  population. 

When  freedom  came,  the  health  of  the  Negro  was  largely 
cared  for  by  traveling  ''root  doctors."  To-day  the  Negro  has  nearly 
1,900  physicians,  dentists,  and  druggists.  To  bring  the  matter 
nearer  home :  You  have  right  here  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  not 
only  the  two  most  noted  Negro  surgeons  in  the  United  States,  but 
in  the  persons  of  your  Doctors  George  C.  Hall  and  Daniel  H. 
Williams,  Chicago  has  two  Negro  physicians  who  have  performed 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  operations  ever  accomplished  by  the 
surgeons  of  any  race. 

To  help  conserve  the  moral  status  of  the  race,  there  were 
15,530  ministers  in  1900,  an  increase  of  27  per  cent  from  1890. 
There  were  also  in  1900.  728  lawyers,  210  journalists,  and  99  liter- 
ary persons  and  scientists. 

Without  boasting,  but  with  a  pardonable  pride  in  the  advance- 
ment of  my  race  since  emancipation,  I  submit  that  we  have  also 
made  some  noteworthy  contributions  to  the  esthetic  civilization  of 
the  world.  To  mention  but  a  few :  In  the  drama,  for  your  Edmund 
Kean,  I  present  the  Negro  tragedian,  Ira  Aldridge,  who  was  dec- 
orated by  the  king  of  Prussia,  and  by  the  Czar  of  all  the  Russias 
for  the  excellence  of  his  dramatic  performances  ;  in  literature,  for 
your  Robert  Burns,  I  offer  the  poet  laureate  of  the  Negro  race, 
through  whose  veins  coursed  no  blood  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  late 
Paul  Laurence  Dunbar;  in  sculpture,  for  your  William  Rhinehart, 
I  offer  Edmonia  Lewis,  and  for  your  Harriet  Hosmer,  I  nominate 
Meta  Vaux  Warrick;  in  painting,  we  point  with  pride  to  the  can- 
vass of  Henry  O.  Tanner  when  you  mention  the  ecelebrated  Michel 
Angelo ;  in  music,  for  your  Swedish  Nightingale,  or  for  Patti,  the 
mistress  of  song,  I  not  only  offer  one  whom  we  call  "Black  Patti," 
but  I  nominate  the  whole  Negro  race,  for  all  of  them  can  warble 
divinely  to  the  morning  light,  and  they  have  contributed  the  only 
original  m.usic  known  on  the  North  American  continent:  and  after 


78 THEODORE  PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

we   listen   to  your  celebrities   of  song,   we   pass  judgment,   in   the 
language  of  Dunbar,  and  say  to  all  of  you : 

"G'way  an'  quit  dat  noise,  Miss  Lucy — 

Put  dat  music  book  away ; 
What's  de  use  to  keep  on  tryin'  ? 

Ef  you  practice  twell  you're  gray. 
You  caint  start  no  notes  a-flyin' 

Lak  de  ones  dat  rants  and  rings 
F'om  de  kitchen  to  de  big  woods 

When  Malindy  sings." 

But  I  must  not  further  lengthen  this  list  of  achievement.  It 
is  in  order  to  ask,  "What  are  the  Negro's  hopes?  To  what  is  he 
looking  as  the  years  come  and  go?"  I  reply  that,  first  of  all,  we 
owe  it  to  millions  of  my  race  to  tell  you  what  they  are  not  striving 
to  obtain.  Unfortunately  for  the  Negro,  an  impression  amounting 
to  a  positive  conviction  has  laid  hold  upon  vast  numbers  of  white 
Americans  to  the  effect  that  the  most  ardent  hope  of  the  race  to 
which  I  belong  is  that  some  day  it  may  lose  its  identity  and  be 
merged  with  the  Caucasian  people  into  a  distinct  race  type  yet  to 
appear  upon  the  North  American  continent. 

With  all  of  the  earnestness  of  my  soul,  and  with  the  convic- 
tion that  this  impression  has  done  untold  injury  to  the  Negro  in 
the  United  States,  I  want  to  declare  that  such  fusion  and  amalga- 
mation do  not  compose  the  fabric  of  the  Negro's  dreams.  I  owe 
it  to  all  candor  and  to  him  whose  natal  day  we  celebrate  to  speak 
thus  frankly  of  the  position  on  this  question  of  many  thoughtful 
Negro  citizens  who  are  seeking  to  justify  the  faith  of  Theodore 
Parker  in  the  trying  days  gone  by.  How  easily  we  could  adjust 
all  questions  which  grow  out  of  the  presence  of  the  Negro  in  the 
United  States  if  it  were  not  for  this  potential  submergence  of  the 
two  races.  But  since  we  cannot  argue  away  the  possible,  it  is  our 
duty  to  allay  fears  by  emphasizing  the  fact  that  this  race  fusion 
to  the  point  of  the  submergence  of  either  the  Negro  or  the  Cau- 
casian is  extremely  improbable. 

Not  only  is  the  Negro  not  earnestly  seeking  for  physical  union 
with  other  races,  but  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  report  that  he,  too, 
is  studying  the  science  of  eugenics,  and  is  beginning  to  discover 
that  his  own  race  has  certain  great  qualities  which  ought  not  to 
perish  through  the  blending  of  diverse  races ;  and  the  Negro,  in 
the  future,  will  most  respectfully  decline  to  be  cast  into  Zangwill's 
great  melting  pot.  And  more  than  this :  We  are  developing  men 
and  women  who  have  the  broader  vision  of  life,  and  who  have  the 
courage  constantly  to  remind  the  race  that  the  color  of  the  skin 
and  the  curl  of  the  hair  are  of  little  moment  as  compared  with  the 
eternal  qualities  of  the  heart ;  that  in  the  final  analysis,  a  race  will 
be  judged,  not  by  the  color  of  its  skin  but  by  the  equity  of  its 
deeds.  We  are  beginning  to  understand  that  in  the  converse  with 
truth,   all   men   speak  the   same   language,   and   that   in   the   higher 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 79 

and  more  permanent  things  of  this  world  a  man  may  have  a  black 
skin  and  yet  find  room  enough  thereunder  for  all  of  his  powers, 
and  ought  to  hold  every  achievement  which  he  makes,  sacredly  in 
trust  for  the  honor  and  glory  of  his  own  race  and  for  the  good 
of  the  world.  But  I  submit  to  our  white  friends  north  and  south, 
who  are  disturbed  over  the  possibility  of  the  fusion  of  the  two 
races,  that  one  of  the  best  ways  to  preserve  the  racial  integrity  of 
their  race  is  to  make  it  possible  for  Negro  publicists  and  makers 
of  opinion  in  mine,  to  boast  that  there  is  neither  advantage  nor 
disadvantage  in  the  accident  of  color  in  the  United  States.  This 
they  cannot  do  at  present,  and  they  often  find  themselves  laughed 
out  of  court  because  of  this  fact,  when  they  attempt  to  make  the 
same  fight  for  racial  aloofness  that  you  are  making.  Nevertheless, 
there  is  growing  up  a  healthful  race  pride  everywhere  and  a  com- 
mendable racial  solidarity. 

Before  indicating  the  Negro's  desire,  let  us  ask  if  he  has  been 
a  law-abiding  citizen.  I  reply  that  he  has  not  yet  succeeded  in  set- 
ting the  example  for  the  rest  of  the  United  States  in  this  respect ; 
and  yet,  I  would  remind  you  that  the  immigrants  entering  the 
United  States  from  Mexico,  Italy,  Austria,  France,  Canada,  and 
Russia  have  a  larger  number  of  committments  to  prison  per  1,000 
of  population  than  has  this  same  Negro  whose  record  of  crime 
receives  such  publicity ;  and,  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Washington, 
in  1904,  the  ratio  of  crime  committed  by  Negroes  and  whites 
was  a  little  less  than  three  and  one-half  to  one — a  decrease  of  21 
per  cent  for  the  Negro  since  1890. 

Over  and  above  all  this,  the  Negro  has  been  ever  loyal  and 
true  to  his  country.  Whatever  his  lot  on  the  North  American 
continent,  he  has  stood  by  the  government  under  which  he  lives; 
and  whenever  his  country  has  needed  him  and  the  call  to  arms 
has  sounded,  he  has  rallied  around  the  flag  from  the  hillsides  and 
the  plains ;  and,  to  the  American  people  at  large,  to  all  who  spoke, 
suffered,  and  fought  that  he  might  be  free,  yea,  to  the  invisible 
shades  of  Theodore  Parker,  I  bring  the  message  from  my  race 
that  if  any  man  or  set  of  men  attempt  to  lay  unholy  hands  upon 
the  stars  and  stripes  or  to  humble  the  proud  ensign  of  our  land, 
if  you  will  but  call  the  roll  of  patriots,  we'll  be  there  to  ofifer  our 
lives  as  the  highest  measure  of  devotion  and  loyalty  to  our  land  and 
country. 

This,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  the  faith  that  the  Negro  has 
kept  with  the  friends  of  freedom ;  and  he  stands  an  humble  sup- 
plicant before  the  bar  of  public  opinion  asking,  now,  if  the  Amer- 
ican people  will  keep  faith  with  him — whether  the  rulers  of  the 
land  will  give  him  all  the  rewards  of  citizenship  if  he  discharge 
all  the  duties  pertaining  thereto. 

All  that  the  Negro  asks  for  in  America  is  that  the  Golden 
Rule  be  applied  to  him  just  as  it  is  applied  to  any  other  race.  He 
asks   for  no   special   favors  not  given  to  other  citizens ;   he  does 


THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 


not  desire  anarchy ;  he  would  not  knowingly  rend  in  twain  the 
fabric  of  our  government;  he  would  not  wittingly  set  brother 
against  brother;  he  merely  wishes  the  opportunity  of  fullest  and 
most  complete  development  and  expression.  He  wants  to  weep 
when  the  nation  weeps,  to  rejoice  in  her  days  of  gladness,  to  help 
carry  her  burdens,  and  to  share  her  prosperity  and  happiness. 

Tired  of  the  strife  for  better  things  ?  No.  The  Negro  rested 
for  250  years.  Discouraged?  Again,  no.  He  is  just  beginning  to 
hope.  Satisfied  with  what  he  has  done  and  with  what  he  is?  By 
no  means.  The  fires  of  ambition  kindled  within  him  by  contact 
with  American  civilization  have  just  begun  to  burn,  and  he  will 
never  be  content  until,  in  the  full  stature  of  most  useful  manhood, 
he  writes  his  name  in  bold  relief  upon  the  noble  record  of  these 
times  as  a  worker  for  the  common  good. 

In  the  sanctity  of  this  hour,  while  we  pay  respect  to  the  illus- 
trious dead  who  was  the  uncompromising  foe  of  everything  which 
hindered  human  progress,  I  can  best  express  the  hope  of  the  Negro 
in  the  soul-stirring  words  of  Edwin  Markham : 

"Come,  clear  the  way,  then — clear  the  way, 

Blind  creeds  and  kings  have  had  their  day — 

Break  the  dead  branches  from  the  path. 

Our  hope  is  in  the  aftermath. 

Our  hope  is  in  heroic  men, 

Star-led  to  build  the  world  again; 

To  this  event  the  ages  ran — 

Make  way  for  brotherhood,  make  way  for  man." 


Mr.  Jones  :  Had  I  been  endowed  as  my  brother  has,  with 
the  gift  of  song,  I  would  ask  you  to  join  with  me  in  singing  "Mine 
Eyes  Have  Seen  the  Glory  of  the  Coming  of  the  Lord,"  but  I  can- 
not lead  you.     He  could  if  he  would,  for  I  have  heard  him  do  it. 

Surely  in  this  hour  is  the  faith  of  the  martyrs  justified,  and  in 
this  presence  is  the  promise  of  prophets  made  good — and  there  is 
more  to  come;  this  is  but  a  prelude  to  that  nobler  history  that  is 
to  be  written  of  the  higher  future  that  assuredly  is  coming,  of 
which  another  brother  of  another  race  with  whom  the  world  has 
not  dealt  justly,  will  speak — Dr.  Charles  Fleischer  of  Boston. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING  81 


of  Boston 


NATURAL   AND    PROGRESSIVE   RELIGION. 

Mr.  Jones  forgot  to  announce  my  subject,  for  which  I  am 
very  grateful,  because  I  see  that  the  program  announces  that  I 
am  to  speak  on  the  Growth  of  Universal  Religion,  and  I  am  not 
going  to  speak  on  that, — I  am  going  to  speak  on  Natural  and  Pro- 
gressive Religion. 

Before  beginning,  however,  I  want  to  say  that  I  have  seldom 
listened  to  so  great  and  splendid  an  outburst  of  oratory  (which 
not  for  one  moment  apparently  was  for  effect),  as  we  have  list- 
ened to  in  the  high  words  spoken  here  this  afternoon. 

As  to  that  other  race  of  which  Dr.  Jones  has  spoken,  I  sup- 
pose he  means  the  human  race,  for,  with  all  due  deference  to  Dr. 
Jones  and  to  the  other  speaker  who  preceded  me,  I  certainly  rec- 
ognize no  black  or  white  race,  I  certainly  never  recognized  any 
Jewish  race,  for  there  never  was  any  such,  but  I  as  certainly  rec- 
ognize the  human  race,  with  which  I  feel  kinship.  If  certain  ele- 
ments of  the  human  race  have  dealt  unjustly  with  certain  other 
elements,  so  much  the  worse  for  those  who  have  been  unjust.  I 
know  Booker  T.  Washington  always  lays  stress  upon  that  idea, 
and  I  have  been  touched  again  and  again  in  reading  his  appeals 
to  the  white  man  to  do  justice  to  himself,  to  his  own  self-respect, 
by  being  more  decent  to  the  negro. 

Says  Allen  Upv/ard  in  his  recent  book,  "The  New  Word," 
"There  are  two  kinds  of  human  outcasts.  Man  in  his  march  up- 
ward out  of  the  deep  into  the  light,  throws  out  a  vanguard  and  a 
rear  guard,  and  both  are  out  of  step  with  the  main  body.  Hu- 
manity condem.ns  equally  those  who  are  too  good  for  it,  and  those 
who  are  too  bad." 

Theodore  Parker,  fifty  years  ago,  was  obviously  "outcast" — 
an  armyless  leader  far  in  the  vanguard  and  quite  out  of  step  with 
the  main  body.  We  are  catching  up  with  him — after  two  genera- 
tions. But  at  the  distance  of  a  semi-century,  he  seems  "too  good 
to  be  true."  and  too  near  the  truth  to  seem  good  and  acceptable 
to  his  own  age. 

Born  at  Lexington,  a  worthy  scion  of  the  stock  made  classic 
by  the  minute-men,  Theodore  Parker  has  rendered  a  similar  service 
for  America,  in  that  he  was  one  of  the  first  signers  of,  and  a 
valiant  fighter  for,  our  spiritual  declaration  of  independence.  It 
is  the  centenary  year  of  Theodore  Parker's  birth,  and  fifty  years 
since  he  died  in  Florence,  Italy.  My  purpose  is  not  to  weary  you 
with  idle  statistics  about  this  erstwhile  interesting  personality,  but 
rather  with  my  words  and  life  to  promote  the  cause  of  free  religion 
to  which  he  was  consecrated  and  in  which  I  deeply  believe.  If  you 
ask  me,  "What  is  free  religion?"     I  answer:    It  is  that  religion 


82 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

which  is  natural  to  man  ;  wiiich  indwells  our  human  nature ;  which 
transcends  revealed  religion ;  which  is  almost  as  old  as  the  race 
itself;  which  tells  of  man's  sense  of  relationship  with  the  universe, 
and  relates  the  beautiful  story  of  human  aspirations  and  progress. 

All  historic  religions  are  only  chapters  of  the  history  of  free 
and  natural  religion.  Mohammedanism  is  less  than  1.200  years  old, 
Christianity  about  1,800  years,  Buddhism  nearly  2,500,  and  Juda- 
ism perhaps  3,000 — all  of  them  only  comparatively  modern  phases 
of  free  and  natural  religion,  and  doomed  to  illustrate  Tennyson's 
verse: 

"Our  little  systems  have  their  day — 
They  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be." 

If  you  will  tell  me  the  age  of  man  on  earth,  then  I  can  tell 
you  how  old  is  this  natural  religion,  and  if  you  can  tell  me  when 
man  will  cease  to  be,  then  I  shall  undertake  to  say  when  free  re- 
ligion will  be  no  more. 

The  Greek  philosopher  says,  "All  is  in  a  state  of  flux,"  "evolu- 
tion" an  eternal  fact,  and  a  symbol  of  infinite  potentiality.  Yet, 
man,  with  all  his  conceit  and  self-confidence  has  not  yet  developed 
self-respect — does  not  yet  know  his  creative  power.  Therefore  al- 
ways he  tries  to  arrest  his  own  development,  and  allows  fear  of 
loss  to  brake  his  rapid  and  otherwise  inevitable  progress. 

Hence,  convention,  crystallization,  orthodoxy. 

But  that  weakness  simply  gives  strength  and  significance  to  the 
time  element  in  the  story  of  human  progress.  Else  perhaps  our 
forward  march  would  be  at  dizzying  speed,  and  the  army  of  man 
be  forever  an  unorganized  mass  of  stragglers.  Orthodoxy  is  a 
means  of  preserving  the  lines,  while  the  laggards,  the  lazy,  the 
cowardly  and  the  orderly  catch  up.  To  change  the  figure,  disinte- 
gration is  as  sure  as  integration,  and  the  fluid  state  as  reliable  a 
tendency  as  the  habit  of  crystallization ;  in  religion,  priest  follows 
prophet — but  protest  as  surely  succeeds  the  priest.  To  come  to 
our  time,  we  find  abundant  signs  of  the  breaking  up  of  present 
religious  organization.  The  signs,  the  symptoms  are  on  every  hand : 
the  falling  away  of  attendance  at  public  worship;  the  freedom  of 
criticism  of  old  faiths ;  the  indifference  of  the  working  classes ;  the 
feminizing  of  congregations ;  the  multiplication  of  sects ;  the  tol- 
eration of  a  double  standard  of  living,  the  last  probably  the  most 
important  symptom  of  all. 

But  take  that  symptom  most  commonly  observed,  the  falling 
ofif  of  attendance  at  public  worship.  It  is  significant  that  this  is 
not  true  of  two  religious  bodies — the  Roman  Catholic  Church  still 
holds  its  following,  and  the  Christian  Science  Church  is  adding  to 
its  ranks  of  believers  rapidly. 

These  churches  exhibit  the  two  extremes  of  faith — the  Roman 
Catholic  revealing  the  attachment  of  men  to  the  authority  of  tradi- 
tional faith,  and  willingness  to  make  the  church  the  repository  of 
truth,  while  on   the  other   hand   the   Christian   Science   Church   is. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 83 

in  a  large  sense,  symbolic  of  the  democratic  belief  in  a  right    to 
establish  new  religious  organizations. 

Rut  among  persons  of  average  intelligence  there  is  surely  an 
indifference  to  the  claims  of  religion,  except  perhaps  on  state  occa- 
sions. They  are  willing  that  the  church  should  ofificiate  at  wed- 
dings and  funerals  in  order  that  due  formality  and  propriety  be 
observed.  "And  you  never  can  tell,"  as  the  good  Unitarian  woman 
said,  when  questioned  about  her  bowing  at  every  mention  of  the 
devil's  name.  The  daily  conversation  of  the  average  American 
is  untouched  by  religious  conviction,  and  shows  his  thought  on  the 
fundamentals  of  life  to  be  totally  different  from  the  church's.  When 
he  wishes  to  quote  religious  thought  he  uses  the  language  of  the 
churches  as  though  he  were  speaking  a  foreign  tongue.  How 
much  more  glibly  come  the  phrases  of  the  stock  market,  the  sport- 
ing world,  the  artistic  circles !  The  vocabulary  of  the  churches  is 
like  a  dead  language  to  him,  one  that  he  will  use  as  sparingly  as 
quotations  from  the  classics. 

Everywhere  we  find  the  freest  criticism  of  religious  bodies 
and  beliefs,  and  commonly  an  irreverent  attitude  towards  them. 
Read  the  journals  of  to-day  and  you  will  see  that  things  formerly 
held  in  reverence,  old-time  teachings  and  beliefs  and  personages 
of  the  Christian  faith,  have  become  little  more  than  subject  mat- 
ter for  literary  illustration ;  exactly  as  the  myths  and  personages 
of  the  Greek  theology,  now  called  mythology. 

As  a  free  religionist,  I  am  unworried  by  this  fact  and  find  it 
significant  of  spiritual  health  and  vitality,  and  prophetic  of  a  nat- 
ural sloughing  of  the  old  faiths.  I  do  not  find  this  reduction  of  a 
living  faith  to  mere  literary  phrases  and  symbols  an  indication  of 
spiritual  weakness.  Not  when  you  remember  that  it  has  taken  2,000 
years  for  this  to  happen. 

And  if  a  faith  is  to  end  thus,  is  the  process  worth  while? 
Why  not?  What  is  a  religious  faith — several  religious  faiths, 
with  their  2,000  or  3,000  years'  tenure  of  life  in  this  mighty 
process  of  moving  the  race  from  savagery  towards  the  fleeting 
goal  of  practical  idealism?  A  Buddhism,  a  Judaism,  a  Christianity 
may  serve  to  supply  symbols,  mental  furniture,  ideas,  giving  men 
vocabulary  for  expressing  their  growing  needs. 

It  is  worth  while  to  have  had  Olympus  with  all  its  gods,  to  fur- 
nish figures  of  speech  to  human  life  with  its  aspirations.  Bud- 
dhism has  given  us  the  symbol  of  tenderness  for  all  created  life ; 
Judaism,  righteousness  which  exalts  a  nation ;  Christianity  has  con- 
tributed a  Jesus  to  emphasize  the  infinite  value  of  every  human  life. 
Our  little  systems  have  their  day — the  human  race  loses  none  of 
the  net  results.  And  I  have  no  fear  of  spiritual  bankruptcy  for 
the  race  if  it  gives  up  its  oresent  faith !     None. 

Another  symptom  of  the  seeming  unreligiousness  of  the  day 
is  the  multiplication  of  sects.  But  that  is  not  a  symptom  of  unre- 
ligiousness ;   rather  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  lack  of  a   religion 


84 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

which  fits  the  needs  of  the  time.  It  indicates  spiritual  vitality. 
These  new  sects  do  not  necessarily  spell  a  larger  truth ;  indeed, 
they  often  represent  backsliding  toward  cruder  religious  philosophies 
as,  for  example.  Dowieism  and  Christian  Science.  The  latter  I  think 
a  most  material  system,  with  its  emphasis  of  the  body,  sickness 
and  sin,  despite  its  negation  of  material  things.  Yet  in  this  as  well 
as  in  other  new  sects,  one  sees  the  restless  craving  of  men  to  fit 
their  aspirations  with  a  living  faith — and  perhaps  I  should  say  one 
sees  it  in  women  quite  as  much  as  in  men ;  perhaps,  rather  more. 

Those  of  little  faith  in  man,  in  the  Spirit  of  God  working 
through  man — claim  to  see,  in  this  growing  restlessness,  evidence 
of  moral  degeneracy,  and,  in  the  instinctive  self-preserving  efforts 
of  the  church  to  meet  the  larger  demands  of  men,  proof  of  a  tend- 
ency to  cheapen  religion  and  to  rob  it  of  all  intrinsic  worth  and 
beauty.  The  "this-worldly"  trend  of  the  Christian  Church  is  the 
only  thing  which  will  save  it  as  a  social  factor.  I  maintain  that 
only  the  closest  affiliation  of  the  church  with  the  workday  world 
of  normal  human  interests  will  preserve  religion  as  a  precious  in- 
fluence. 

A  dread  of  spiritual  bankruptcy  is  upon  us,  and  a  fear  lest 
the  sanctuarv  become  profaned  by  use  for  all  the  common  purposes 
of  life. 

All  of  this  latter-day  contempt  or  disrespect  for  the  natural 
concerns  of  life,  is  to  be  expected  as  an  aftermath  of  the  Chris- 
tian metaphysics  of  other-worldliness.  But  that  ancient  atti- 
tude is  already  practically  outgrown,  however  the  mystic  churches 
and  pietistic  cults  may  try  to  maintain  themselves.  Even  the  church 
to-day  must  prove  its  use,  or  else  pass  out  of  existence  as  other 
than  a  social  luxury  or  curiosity.  There  is  no  room  in  the  life  of 
the  future  for  the  church  which  aims  to  be  merely  a  church  of 
the  future  life. 

It  is  true  that  the  function  of  the  church  is  spiritual,  but  that 
does  not  to-day  mean  inevitably  and  exclusively  other-worldly.  Also, 
it  is  the  business  of  religion  to  preserve  for  us  "the  conscious  re- 
lation between  man  and  God  and  to  express  that  relation  in  human 
conduct." 

But  '"conduct"  must  include  not  only  the  development  of  per- 
sonal character,  but  also  all  social  relationships,  however  impersonal 
or  complex  or  practical  or  subtle.  From  this  viewpoint,  politics 
and  industry,  economics  and  corporate  management,  as  well  as  the- 
ology, metaphysics  and  ethics,  are  in  the  sphere  of  religion.  They 
cheapen  religion  who  deliberately  limit  its  sphere  so  that  it  be- 
comes coterminous  with  anything  less  than  the  whole  of  life,  cov- 
ering every  individual  aspiration  and  interest  and  all  tlie  practical 
social  concerns. 

This  brings  me  to  a  necessarily  brief  consideration  of  the  new 
phase  of  religion  which  is  to  replace  the  one  from  which  we  are 
emerging.     And,  naturally,  I  must  comment  upon  the  formulation 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 85 

of  "The  Religion  of  the  Future,"  given  us  by  the  wise  and  reverent 
former  president  of  Harvard  College — Charles  W.  Eliot.  As  a 
champion  of  progressive  religion,  I  am  glad  I  can  give  almost  full- 
circled  assent  to  Dr.  Eliot's  fearless,  honest,  and  satisfying  utter- 
ance. He  appears  to  me  to  have  gone  far  towards  supplying  a 
creed  for  the  emancipated,  enlightened  and  aspiring  religionist  of 
to-day — a  creed  which  reverences  truth,  sees  the  spiritual  signifi- 
cance of  science,  recognizes  the  moral  worth  of  our  material  civili- 
zation, exalts  the  individual  and  demands  the  consecration  of  social 
service. 

I  lay  stress  upon  the  fearless  honesty  of  Dr.  Eliot's  essay,  not 
in  order  to  charge  other  religious  teachers,  by  implication,  with 
dishonesty,  but  to  express  the  more  fervent  appreciation  of  his 
service.  The  average  minister  is  not  dishonest,  but  he  is  likely  to 
be  as  incapable  as  the  average  attorney  of  seeing  truth  objectively 
and  squarely,  of  seeing  it  otherwise  than  he  is  supposed  to  see  it. 
Therefore,  at  best,  he  is  likely  to  toy  with  truth,  to  become  "ra- 
tionalistic,"' and  to  attempt  to  "harmonize"  religious  and  scientific 
doctrine. 

This  attitude  and  this  process  do  not  satisfy  the  lay  mind, 
which  is  not  so  prone,  pathologically,  as  is  the  professional  relig- 
ionist, to  recognize  two  kinds  of  truth  which  are  in  conflict,  viz.,  a 
truth  of  religion  and  a  truth  of  common  sense.  It  is  this  unpro- 
fessional religionist  whom  President  Eliot  has  particularly  voiced 
and  helped — the  average,  thinking,  free  man  and  woman  outside 
the  pulpit,  and  largely  outside  the  church  for  sufficiently  self-re- 
specting reason. 

The  chief  indictment  brought  against  Dr.  Eliot's  "new"  re- 
ligion is  that  it  is  too  reasonable,  too  logical,  and  the  "supernatural" 
cannot  be  left  out  of  religion.  Who  says  that?  Only  the  devotees 
of  unreasonable  and  supernatural  religion.  Where,  then,  shall  we 
place  the  limit  on  irrationalism  and  supernaturalism  ?  Perhaps  Cook 
and  Peary  will  initiate  us  into  the  superior  worth  of  the  religion 
of  the  ignorant  and  savage  Esquimaux,  or  Roosevelt  will  reveal 
to  us  the  hidden  beauties  of  the  religion  of  the  fetish  worshiper 
in  darkest  Africa.  Why  not?  If  reason  and  logic  are  fatal  to 
religion,  why  stop  short  of  St.  Augustine's:  "I  believe,  because  it 
is  absurd"? 

I  deny  that  ever  the  religious  layman,  except  as  misled  by  the 
religious  philosopher,  deliberately  believed  irrationally.  When  our 
ancestors  accepted  the  six-day  creation  story,  it  was  to  them  as 
reasonable  as  it  is  to  us  unreasonable,  and  it  was  as  religious  for 
them  to  hold  the  implied  belief  about  God  as  it  is  irreligious  for  us 
to  hold  it. 

So  with  the  idea  of  sacrifice.  When  men  practiced  that  rite, 
it  was  because  they  honestly  believed  that  a  God  could  be  cajoled 
or  appeased  by  the  sacrifice  of  human  beings.  It  does  no  credit 
to  the  intellectual,  moral,  or  spiritual  calibre  of  the  religionist  to- 


86 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

day,  who  accepts — because  it  is  "supernatural" — any  "rationalized" 
form  of  the  idea  of  sacrifice. 

The  honest  "new"  religion,  like  the  honest  "old"  religion  is 
simply  the  sublimest  common-sense  of  the  time.  Obviously,  that 
changes  from  age  to  age  for  the  race,  as  it  changes — and,  let  us 
hope,  grows — with  the  "seven  ages"  of  the  individual  man.  Why 
any  religionist  should  pride  himself  on  a  fixed  and  final  faith,  when 
obviously  even  a  so-called  revealed  religion  must  address  itself  to, 
and  find  expression  through  an  evolving,  unfolding  human  intelli- 
gence, passes  my  comprehension,  unless  he  is  satisfied  with  anything 
short  of  the  best  and  fullest  and  latest  "revelation"  of  the  divine, 
through  the  best  and  most  enlightened  and  most  spiritual  men  and 
women  of  succeeding  generations. 

The  modern  tendency  is  to  demand  that  religion  shall  be  com- 
mensurate with  the  whole  of  life,  to  fit  and  to  fulfil  every  side  of 
our  complex  nature,  and  to  meet  all  our  physical,  mental,  moral, 
esthetic,  and  spiritual  needs,  and,  if  possible,  to  answer  all  our 
desires  here  and  hereafter.  Any  religion  which  fails  by  all  these 
tests — and  they  all  do — is  either  doomed  to  continuous  "growing- 
pains"  or  is  destined  to  be  outgrown  and  discarded  by  its  own  in- 
creasingly exacting  devotees. 

That  would  hold  true  of  all  faiths  which  specialize,  as  it  were, 
in  catering  to  one  or  another  human  need  and  ignore  the  rest,  as, 
for  instance,  making  a  cult  of  physical  well-being,  or  of  esthetic 
delights,  or  of  "consolations" — all  of  these  at  the  expense  of  sound 
common-sense.  Well-balanced,  all-around  men  and  women  are 
bound  in  due  time  to  forswear  such  specializing  cults. 

President  Eliot  was  harshly  criticized  for  his  assertion  that 
"the  religion  of  the  future  will  not  be  based  on  authority  either 
spiritual  or  temporal."  I  cordially  accept  that  prophecy.  Nor  do 
I  ask  the  insertion  of  the  word  "external."  We  all  know  that  "au- 
thority" always  means  external  authority.  What  I  want  to  assert 
is  that  enlightened  and  high-minded  persons  in  general  already  pur- 
sue truth,  beauty,  goodness,  justice,  and  whatever  other  ideals,  for 
their  own  sake,  because  of  the  intrinsic  worth  and  inherent  attract- 
iveness of  these — and  not  because  God  and  the  church  command 
them.  In  other  words,  theology  and  ethics  are  separate  though 
kindred  human  concerns,  and  the  moral  imperative  is  independent 
of  the  God-idea. 

I  acknowledge  that  it  is  mainly  the  practical  aspect  of  religion 
which  interests  me,  the  evolution  of  a  series  of  ethical  ideals  and 
standards  which  shall  uplift  the  life  of  the  individual  and  regulate 
society  on  a  spiritual  basis.  As  to  the  theology  and  the  metaphysics 
of  the  future  (as  of  to-day),  these  certainly  are  to  be  diflferent  from 
the  theology  and  metaphysics  of  the  past — if  they  are  to  be  made, 
as  always  they  have  been,  of  our  growing  knowledge  of  man  and 
the  universe.  Plainly,  I  mean  to  assert  that  tiie  old-time  theo- 
logical "sanction"  ancl  "authority"  for  human  conduct — whether  in 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 87 

a  conception  of  God  as  "perfect"  and  "holy" — which  is  really  only 
tile  register  of  man's  spiritual  aspiration,  the  image  of  his  self- 
projection  at  his  best — or  in  a  divine  commandment,  enjoining 
"thus  saith  the  Lord."  These  formerly  effective  (or  at  least  influ- 
ential) guides  and  motives  for  human  conduct  have  practically  lost 
their  individual  compulsion  and  their  social  validity. 

No,  we  cannot  do  without  them  or  their  legitimate  substitutes. 
The  individual  and  society  absolutely  need  compelling  standards 
by  which  to  regulate  their  conduct.  It  is  neither  desirable  nor  safe 
for  an  individual,  however  high-minded,  to  be  a  law  unto  himself. 
We  need,  in  a  new  sense,  a  relation  with  a  "power  not  (merely) 
ourselves  which  makes  for  righteousness."  Of  course,  I  am  not 
blotting  out  the  God  of  our  fathers.  He  is  already  self-effaced  by 
the  greater  revelation  of  himself  in  the  soul  of  even  the  average 
man.  The  thought  of  God  grows  as  man  gets  better  acquainted 
with  himself  and  with  environing  nature,  and  the  desperate  cling- 
ing to  outworn  theologies  has  always  seemed  to  me  a  curious  ex- 
hibition of  spiritual  cowardice. 

But  all  that  is  a  matter  for  private  speculation,  a  matter  about 
which  men  will  always  honestly  differ  according  to  their  individual 
temperament  and  culture. 

I  am  speaking  of  the  "sanction"  and  "motive"  for  conduct  in 
a  free  and  natural  religion,  and  I  assert  that  already  we  do  or  do 
not  do  things  for  other  reasons  than  did  our  fathers,  whose  con- 
duct was  guided  by  their  conception  of  God  and  their  desire  to  fulfil 
what  they  believed  to  be  his  will.  We  of  to-day  are,  and  future  gen- 
erations still  more  will  be,  influenced  by  ideals  of  individual  living, 
and  by  the  desire  to  establish  a  certain  order  of  society.  Are  we, 
then,  tending  towards  a  religion  of  pure  and  practical  ethics  mere- 
ly? No,  not  merely  that,  but  mainly  that.  God  will  be  always  an 
object  of  search  and  communion.  The  effort  toward  God-likeness 
and  the  expression  of  the  spirit  in  prayer  will  continue.  I  believe 
the  great  formulator  of  a  new  religion  will  not  only  follow  the 
trend  of  the  time,  but  he  will  anticipate  the  evolved  human  being 
of  the  future  as  the  prophet  has  always  done — Jesus,  Isaiah  and 
others.  He  will  talk  in  compelling  tones  about  the  sort  of  man  that 
the  individual  must  be  in  himself  and  in  his  social  relations,  as 
becomes  a  member  of  the  society  of  the  future. 

Will  the  average  man  understand  such  mandates  as  he  does 
his  present  "Thus  saith  the  Lord"? 

He  will  grow  up  to  that  demand  of  the  prophet,  gradually  but 
surely;  indeed,  we  are  walking  that  sunlighted  path  to-day.  In  the 
growth  of  our  distinctly  human  nature  we  shall  not  become  im- 
mersed in  merely  practical  affairs,  but,  through  that  very  unfolding 
of  the  spirit,  become  increasingly  interested  in.  and  increasingly 
capable  of  understanding  such  departments  of  human  concern  as 
theology,  metaphysics  and  religious  philosophy. 


THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 


I  realize  that  humanity  wants  a  "religion"  in  the  old  sense  of 
the  word. 

Normal  human  nature  requires  religion ;  indeed,  we  "secrete" 
religion.  Religion  is  a  growth  keeping  pace  with  the  culture  of 
every  human  group  and  each  individual.  The  religion  of  a  country 
or  of  a  certain  social  stratum  or  of  any  human  being  proclaims 
their  mental  and  spiritual  caliber,  the  outreachings  of  the  soul  and 
their  expression  in  social  practice. 

But  must  not  the  new  religion  give  us  dogma  ?  Yes ;  but  our 
dogmatizing  will  relate  itself  to  social  ideals  and  social  practice. 
We  shall  be  just  as  dogmatic  about  these  matters  as  the  traditional 
religions  have  been  in  their  teaching  about  Gods  and  Christs  and 
the  hereafter ;  and  we  shall  not  be  too  tolerant  of  "heresies"  re- 
garding our  new  doctrine,  any  more  than  the  traditional  religions 
have  been  about  the  old.  But  as  to  speculations  and  dogmas  re- 
garding the  unknown,  I  feel  sure  we  shall  proceed  modestly,  as 
becomes  our  increased  reverence  toward  the  mystery  of  the  infinite 
universe. 

At  any  rate,  I  feel  sure  that  a  new  religion  will  not  repeat  the 
dogmas  and  speculations  plainly  antagonized  by  science  and  his- 
tory and  in  conflict  with  our  culture,  as,  for  instance,  the  six  days' 
creation  theory  and  the  fall  of  man.  It  will  expect  worship  for 
nothing  man-made,  whether  a  bible  or  a  god,  though  it  will  rev- 
erence all  products  of  human  nature  in  the  making. 

And  will  this  religion  be  born  in  America?  Of  that,  who  can 
prophesy?  But  I  believe  that  America  will  be  more  and  more  the 
breeding  ground  for  world-wide  ideas  and  influences.  The  mix- 
ture of  nations  here  in  America  prefigures  a  fusion  of  races  in 
the  future.  Now,  undoubtedly,  the  religion  of  the  future  will  be 
world-wide.  It  will  not  advance  along  racial  lines,  but  along  lines 
of  intelligence.  The  universal  religion  will  come  to  the  world  large- 
ly as  the  result  of  perfected  means  of  communication  and  inter- 
course between  the  nations,  and  in  that  future  day  we  shall  live  on 
a  world  scale  in  our  "perfected"  state  of  human  society.  And  then 
we  shall  perhaps  find  time  to  study  the  inexhaustible  problems  and 
mysteries  of  the  universe. 

This  brings  me  to  my  one  point  of  difference  with  Dr.  Eliot, 
that  he  predicts  the  continuance  of  the  anthropomorphic  view  of 
God,  holding  that  man  necessarily  thinks  of  God  in  terms  of  hu- 
man personality.  How  does  Dr.  Eliot  know  this  to  be  necessary, 
and  necessary  always?  True,  we  now  ascribe  personality  to  God. 
But  we  are  still  in  the  infantile  phase  of  our  theology,  being  too 
yoimg  by  thousands  of  years  to  think  clearly  and  and  speak  know- 
ingly about  God.  Therefore,  I  hold,  even  our  most  advanced  theol- 
ogy is  tentative  (to  be  expanded  and  improved  by  our  growing 
knowledge  of  the  universe  and  of  human  nature),  and  our  present 
thought  and  language  about  God  are  largely  figurative. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 89 

The  surviving  orthodoxy  indicated  in  Dr.  Eliot's  theology  also 
appears  in  his  estimate  of  Jesus.  Admirable  as  is  the  remarkable 
personality  of  that  gentle  Rabbi  of  Nazareth,  I  believe  that  it  must 
lose  its  transcendence  in  an  age  that  ceases  to  worship  him  as  God, 
and  Jesus  must  take  his  place  on  a  plane  with  the  other  spiritual 
heroes  of  history,  all  of  whom  have  served  to  glorify  our  common 
human  nature  and  to  illustrate  its  limitless  possibilities. 

A  final  challenge  I  wish  to  give  to  Crystallized  Religion,  and 
a  rallying  cry  to  Progressive  Religion : 

In  the  face  of  the  surviving  autocracy  which  indwells  every 
ecclesiastic  institution  and  whose  purpose  plainly  is  self-perpetua- 
tion more  than  individual  and  social  service,  it  is  desirable,  espe- 
cially in  democratic  America,  to  assert  and  to  prove :  that  man  is 
greater  than  churches,  that  human  nature  is  incurably  spiritual,  and 
that  our  free  and  natural  religion  is  a  reliable  means  for  binding 
together  the  human  family  and  relating  it  closely  to  God. 


Mr.  Jones:  Our  Friend  Fisher  has  regained  his  breath  and 
I  have  regained  my  courage,  and  now  he  is  going  to  lead  us  in 
singing.  ''Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory,"  and  we  will  all  join  in 
the  chorus.     (Singing.) 

I  wish  I  could  feel  that  the  great  contention  of  Theodore  Parker 
which  we  are  now  about  to  consider  was  as  well  begun  and  as  far 
advanced  as  these  other  contentions  which  we  have  considered. 
Only  one  enlightened  by  close  study,  I  take  it,  can  take  a  very 
buoyant  estimate  of  our  present  progress  away  from  war,  so 
heartily  and  holily  hated  by  Theodore  Parker;  but  Mr.  Beals 
speaks  by  the  book,  he  knows  what  he  is  talking  about,  and  I  hope 
and  expect  that  he  will  be  able  to  show  us  that,  despite  the  unholy 
wars  that  have  soiled  the  pages  of  history  since  the  great  prophet 
went  hence,  despite  the  humiliating  figures  of  the  burden  of  the 
budgets  of  all  nations,  despite  the  bumptiousness  of  our  own  coun- 
try, still  we  have  progressed  away  from  war. 

Brother  Beals,  cheer  us.     We  need  comforting  ni  this  line. 

Chicago,  Illinois 


FIFTY  YEARS'  GROWTH  AWAY  FROM  WAR. 

Because  Theodore  Parker  was  a  deeply  religious  man,  because 
he  took  his  religion  in  earnest  and  believed  in  righteousness,  its 
practicability,  its  triumph,  he  was  interested  in  all  the  great  re- 
form movements  of  his  day.  As  Mr.  Mead,  following  Mr.  Emer- 
son, has  so  well  said :  "He  insisted  beyond  all  men  in  pulpits  that 
the  essence  of  Christianity  is  its  practical  morals ;  it  is  there  for 
use,  or  it  is  nothing."    (Mead:  Emerson  and  Theodore  Parker.) 


90 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Roug'hly,  we  may  divide  his  life  into  two  parts :  the  first  period 
ending  with  the  close  of  his  West  Roxbury  pastorate,  the  second 
embracing  the  fifteen  magnificent  years  of  his  Boston  ministry. 
Throughout  the  first  period  he  figured  as  an  indefatigable  student 
and  pioneer  in  theological  reconstruction.  But  during  the  second 
period  he  was  forced  on,  as  a  loyal  lover  of  truth  and  justice,  to 
study  and  participate  in  all  the  great  moral  movements  of  his  times. 
Life  in  a  great  city,  in  which  sins  of  all  kinds  confront  one  at 
close  range,  and  such  events  as  the  Mexican  War  and  the  rendi- 
tion of  fugitive  slaves,  made  his  Boston  pastorate  famous  for  his 
immortal  utterances.  '"Peace,  temperance,  education,  the  condition 
of  women,  penal  legislation,  prison  discipline,  the  moral  and  mental 
destitution  of  the  rich,  the  physical  destitution  of  the  poor — all 
these  things,"  says  one  of  his  biographers,  "engaged  his  sympathy 
and  warmed  his  blood,  dictating  many  a  page  in  his  sermons." 
(Chadwick,  235.)  To  quote  another  of  his  biographers:  "Theo- 
dore Parker  came  to  Boston  as  a  theological,  not  as  a  sociological 
reformer ;  but  life  in  the  city  brought  him  into  such  close  contact 
with  misery,  crime  and  vice,  that  he  could  not  stand  aloof.  A  re- 
former by  instinct,  readily  kindled  into  indignation  at  the  thought 
of  evils  he  never  saw,  the  daily  communication  with  evil  in  its  con- 
crete forms,  moved  and  roused  every  energy  in  him."  (Frothing- 
ham.) 

No  one  can  read  his  volumes  on  "Discourses  of  Politics."  "Dis- 
courses of  Slavery,"  and  "Discourses  of  Social  Science."  without 
agreeing  with  Col.  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  that  "Parker's 
sermons  constitute  a  moral  history  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived." 
His  tireless  advocacy  of  reforms,  his  searching  analysis  of  the 
functions  of  a  church,  his  ringing  messages  on  the  social,  indus- 
trial and  political  duties  of  the  hour,  are  all  keyed  to  an  attempt 
to  organize  righteousness. 

The  specific  task  assigned  to  me  is  to  discuss  Theodore  Parker's 
espousal  of  the  peace  cause,  and  to  inquire  whether  or  not  the 
world  has  grown  away  from  war  in  the  fifty  years  since  his  earthly 
work  ended.     And  first  let  me  speak  of 

/ — Theodore  Parker  as  a  FigJitcr. 

Whether  he  was  an  altogether  glorious  prophet  of  the  eternal 
(as  grateful  friends  aver),  or  whether  he  was  "the  foulest  fiend 
which  hell  ever  vomited  forth"  (as  a  hostile  biographer  declared), 
one  thing  he  was  not — he  was  no  mollycoddle.  He  was  a  beautiful 
fighter  and  loved  a  good,  hard  battle  as  well  as  a  later  Theodore 
of  whom  we  have  heard  somewhat. 

How  could  he  help  it?  He  was  born  in  Lexington  (August  24, 
1810).  In  his  arteries  coursed  the  good  red  blood  of  the  New 
England  farmer-soldier.  It  was  his  grandfather,  Captain  John 
Parker,  who  marshalled  the  company  on  Lexington  green  on  that 
fateful  morning  when  was  "fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world." 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 91^ 

And  if  you  will  g^o  to  Lexington  to-day,  you  will  find  chiseled  in 
stone  the  courageous  words  uttered  by  Captain  John  i'arker  on  that 
memorable  morning:  "Don't  fire  unless  fired  upon;  but  if  they 
mean  to  have  war,  let  it  begin  here!"  When  well  warmed  up  to 
the  fray,  this  same  Captain  John  took  from  a  British  grenadier 
the  weapon  with  which  the  latter  was  armed.  Throughout  his  life, 
the  grandson,  Theodore,  kept  hanging  in  his  study,  this  king's 
arm,  captured  from  the  British  grenadier,  and  also  the  rifle  which 
Captain  Parker  bore  in  the  Lexington  fight,  which  was  the  same 
one  which  he  had  fought  with  in  the  old  French  War  and  which 
he  carried  at  the  taking  of  Quebec.  (Frothingham,  419.)  These 
two  guns  are  now  hung  in  the  Senate  chamber  in  the  State  House 
in  Boston,  having  been  bequeathed  by  Theodore  Parker  to  the  State 
of  Massachusetts. 

These  old  guns  had,  for  their  owner,  an  interest  far  deeper 
than  the  gratification  of  the  musty  curiosity  of  the  mere  relic-hunter. 
To  him  they  spoke  a  living  message.  They  were  a  perpetual  ad- 
monition and  encouragement  to  be  loyal  to  present  duty.  Listen 
to  his  manly  words  to  Millard  Fillmore,  on  the  subject  of  assisting 
fugitive  slaves :  "There  hang  beside  me  in  my  library,  as  I  write, 
the  gun  my  grandfather  fought  with  at  the  battle  of  Lexington  .  .  . 
and  also  the  musket  he  captured  from  a  British  soldier  on  that  day, 
— the  first  taken  in  the  war  for  independence.  If  I  would  not  peril 
my  property,  my  liberty,  my  life,  to  keep  my  own  parishioners  out 
of  slavery,  then  I  would  throw  away  these  trophies,  and  should 
think  I  was  the  son  of  some  coward,  and  not  a  brave  man's  child." 
Chadwick  states :  "So  long  as  the  two  muskets  hung  in  Parker's 
study  they  were  to  him  a  daily  inspiration,  and  there  were  times 
when  it  seemed  highly  probable  that  he  might  use  one  or  the  other 
of  them  to  begin  another  war." 

No,  Theodore  Parker  was  not  a  mollycoddle.  It  is  said  that 
when,  in  young  manhood,  he  was  teaching  school,  he  joined  the 
Lexington  Militia  and  was  made  lieutenant  and  clerk  of  the  com- 
pany. In  a  playful  letter,  written  on  the  anniversary  of  Bunker 
Hill,  to  S.  J.  May,  he  addresses  his  good  friend  as  "you  son  of  a 
colonel,  you !"  And  he  intimates  that  May  "will  be  pleased  to  be 
associated  with  any  battle !"  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  he 
addresses  as  "Rev.  General  Higginson."  (Chadwick,  300.)  In 
the  bosoms  of  these  friends,  and  others  who  might  be  named,  upon 
whom  the  holy  hand  of  emancipation  was  laying  a  compelling  hand, 
there  flamed  the  spirit  of  young  Philip  Sidney,  who  declared,  "If 
there  are  any  good  wars  I  shall  go  to  them." 

Anti-slavery,  for  their  generation  was  such  a  "good  war,"  and 
in  this  war  Theodore  Parker  enlisted  heart  and  soul,  voice  and 
pen,  purse  and  strength.  He  gloried  in  rescuing  fugitive  slaves. 
Hear  his  own  words :  "I  have  in  my  church  black  men,  fugitive 
slaves,  they  are  the  crown  of  my  apostleship,  the  seal  of  my  min- 
istry.    It  becomes  me  to  look  after  their  bodies,  to  save  their  souls. 


92 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

I  have  been  obliged  to  take  my  own  parishioners  into  my  house  to 
keep  them  out  of  the  clutches  of  the  kidnappers ;  yes,  gentlemen, 
I  have  been  obliged  to  do  that,  and  to  keep  my  doors  guarded  by 
day  as  well  as  by  night.  I  have  had  to  arm  myself.  I  have  writ- 
ten my  sermons  with  a  pistol  on  my  desk,  loaded,  with  a  cap  on 
the  nipple,  ready  for  action ;  yes,  with  a  drawn  sword  within  reach 
of  my  right  hand  ...  I  am  no  non-resistant." 

A  vigilance  committee  was  formed  in  Boston  to  prevent  the 
return  of  fugitive  slaves.  Parker's  name  was  first  on  the  list  of 
the  executive  committee  and  to  this  work  he  gave  whole  days  and 
nights.  It  was  his  pen  which  drafted  the  resolutions  which  were 
to  rouse  the  conscience  of  the  city  and  the  nation.  Upon  him  and 
a  few  others  rested  the  responsibility  of  thwarting  the  "kidnappers" 
who  arrived  from  time  to  time.  Upon  two  of  these  southern  gen- 
tlemen— Hughes  and  Knight — a  party  of  some  sixty  members  of 
the  committee  called,  at  the  United  States  hotel.  Parker  was  the 
spokesman  and  so  clearly  did  he  state  the  object  of  the  visit  that 
the  Southerners  took  the  afternoon  train  for  New  York.  (Chadwick, 
251.)  But  not  always  did  the  exciting  scenes  have  so  happy  a 
termination.  An  attempt  was  made  to  deliver  Anthony  Burns  from 
the  marshal's  men  who  held  him  in  custody.  Parker  that  evening 
was  addressing  an  anti-slavery  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall.  He  pro- 
posed that  the  audience  meet  the  next  morning  at  Court  Square  ( for 
the  purpose  of  freeing  Burns).  But  events  moved  faster  than  had 
been  expected  and  that  very  evening  an  attack  was  made  on  the 
court  house.  Higginson  was  clubbed  and  his  forehead  was  laid 
open  by  a  sword-cut.  But  the  affair  was  soon  over,  and  a  force 
of  marines  was  marched  over  from  Charlestown  Navy  Yard  to 
defend  the  marshal.  In  the  melee  a  black  man  fired  at  Marshal 
P'reeman,  narrowly  missing  him.  On  hearing  this  Parker  exclaimed 
distressfully,  ''Why  didn't  he  hit  him?  Why  didn't  he  hit  him?" 
Parker  was  arrested  with  Wendell  Phillips,  Thomas  Wentworth 
Higginson  and  others,  for  inciting  riot,  but  the  case  was  not  pushed 
and  never  came  to  trial.  Parker,  however,  seized  the  opportunity 
to  issue  a  volume  of  220  pages,  through  which  he  laid  his  defense 
before  the  people  of  the  land. 

Parker  played  his  part  in  the  movement  to  settle  Kansas  with 
free-soilers.  In  his  private  Journal,  under  date  of  April  2,  1856, 
we  find  this  entry:  "Saw  the  Kansas  party  go  off.  Dr.  Charles  H. 
Sanborn  at  their  head,  about  forty  .  .  .  There  were  twenty  copies 
of  Sharp's  'Rights  of  the  People'  in  their  hands,  of  the  new  and 
improved  edition,  and  divers  Colt's  six-shooters  also."  And  in 
October  of  the  same  year,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  he  predicted  that 
if  Buchanan  should  be  elected  President,  the  Union  would  not 
hold  out  his  four  years.  "It  must  end  in  civil  war,  which  I  have 
been  preparing  for  these  six  months  past.  I  buy  no  books  except 
for   pressing  need.     Last  year  I  bought   fifteen   hundred   dollars' 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 93 

worth ;  this  year  T  shall  not  order  two  hundred  dollars'  worth.  I 
may  want  money  for  cannons." 

Mr.  Parker  was  a  loyal  friend  to  John  Brown,  helping  him 
with  counsel,  encouragement  and  money.  When  the  old  hero  of 
Ossawattomie  perished  as  the  martyr  of  Harper's  Ferry,  Theodore 
Parker,  from  over  the  ocean,  nobly  eulogized  the  brave  old  man 
in  a  long  letter.  As  Frothingham  says :  "No  one  had  more  eagerly 
looked  for  tidings  of  the  bold  adventure;  no  one  more  sincerely 
regretted  its  failure ;  no  one  more  faithfully  bore  witness  to  the 
magnanimity  of  the  martyred  man,  more  frankly  expressed  his 
friendship  for  him,  or  his  approval  of  his  deed."  Parker  held 
that  slaves  had  a  natural  right  to  destroy  their  oppressors  and 
that  it  might  be  the  duty  of  freemen  to  help  them.  Indeed  he  went 
so  far  as  to  say:  "I  should  like,  of  all  things,  to  see  an  insurrection 
of  the  slaves," 

One  of  the  most  dramatic  acts  performed  by  Theodore  Parker 
during  the  exciting  anti-slavery  struggle  was  a  certain  marriage 
ceremony  at  which  he  officiated.  William  and  Ellen  Craft,  fugitive 
slaves,  refugees  in  Boston,  hotly  pursued  by  slave-catchers,  decided 
to  go  to  London  where  they  would  be  safe.  Being  slaves,  they 
had  had  no  legal  marriage  solemnized.  As  their  pastor,  Mr.  Parker 
was  called  upon  to  officiate.  After  the  usual  marriage  formula 
had  been  spoken,  the  clergyman  addressed  a  few  special  remarks 
to  the  bridegroom,  telling  Craft  that  he  was  an  outlaw,  that  no 
law  protected  his  liberty  in  the  United  States,  that  he  must  depend 
upon  himself;  that  if  attacked  by  one  wishing  to  return  him  to 
slavery,  he  had  a  natural  right  to  resist  the  man  unto  death;  that 
his  wife  depended  upon  him  for  protection,  and  to  protect  her  was 
a  duty  he  could  not  decline.  Then  taking  up  a  bowie-knife,  or  a 
sword,  which  was  lying  on  the  table,  the  minister  placed  it  in  the 
bridegroom's  right  hand  and  charged  him  to  use  it  in  the  last  ex- 
tremity. 

The  times  became  blacker  and  blacker.  It  seemed  impossible 
to  quicken  the  conscience  of  the  nation  into  life  and  action.  But 
never  did  this  man  quail.  Charles  Sumner  was  brutally  assaulted 
and  laid  low.  At  this  event,  Parker,  in  a  sermon  from  his  Music 
Hall  pulpit,  exclaimed,  "I  keep  the  coat  of  Thomas  Sims ;  it  is 
rent  to  tatters.  I  wish  I  had  also  the  bloody  garment  of  Charles 
Sumner  that  I  might  show  it  to  you."  After  the  presidential  elec- 
tion of  1856  he  wrote:  'T  am  more  than  ever  of  opinion  that  we 
must  settle  this  question  in  the  old  Anglo-Saxon  way — by  the 
sword.  I  make  all  my  pecuniary  arrangements  with  the  expecta- 
tion of  civil  war.     I  buy  no  books." 

No,  this  man  was  no  mollycoddle.  When  he  dared  to  lift  up 
his  voice  in  Faneuil  Hall  in  protest  against  the  iniquitous  war  with 
Mexico,  cries  of  "Throw  him  over"  were  uttered  by  the  armed 
soldiers  present.  Upon  which  he  asked:  "Throw  him  over,  what 
good  would  that  do?    What  would  you  do  next,  after  you  had 


94 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

thrown  him  over?"  "Drag  you  out  of  the  hall,"  came  from  the 
coarse  mol>throat.  "What  good  would  that  do?  It  would  not  wipe 
off  the  infamy  of  this  war!  Would  not  make  it  less  wicked!"  A 
few  moments  later  there  burst  out  angry  cries,  "Throw  him  over ; 
kill  him,  kill  him !"  accompanied  by  a  flourish  of  bayonets.  But 
the  dauntless  man  scornfully  replied:  "Throw  him  over?  You  will 
not  throw  him  over.  Kill  him?  I  shall  walk  home  unarmed  and 
unattended,  and  not  a  man  of  you  will  hurt  one  hair  of  my  head." 
Such  a  man  is  no  weakling.  And  only  a  stout-souled  hero  would 
say,  as  he  said,  early  in  life,  "Blessed  be  these  iron  times !  There 
is  something  for  a  man  to  do." 

We  have  thus  far  considered  Parker  as  a  fighter ;  he  was  like- 
wise a  thorough-going  pacifist,  and  we  are  now  to  think  of 

// — Theodore  Parker  as  a  Prophet  of  Peace. 

On  a  certain  occasion  in  the  year  1851,  Parker  said:  "I  must 
not  let  a  fugitive  slave  be  taken  from  Boston,  cost  what  it  may 
justly  cost.  I  will  not  (so  I  think  now)  use  weapons  to  rescue  a 
man  with ;  but  I  will  go  unarmed  when  there  is  a  reasonable  chance 
of  success,  and  make  the  rescue."  Later,  however,  when  the  anti- 
slavery  excitement  became  fanned  into  a  white  heat,  we  find  Theo- 
dore Parker  arming  himself  with  a  hatchet  when  assisting  colored 
refugees ;  and  from  his  own  lips  we  have  it  that  in  his  study  he 
kept  arms,  ready  for  use,  should  occasion  arise.  But  he  says :  "It 
is  no  small  matter  that  would  compel  me  to  shed  human  blood." 
Physical  force  was  repugnant  to  him,  the  poorest  kind  of  an  argu- 
ment ;  and  the  weapons  of  violence  he  looked  upon  as  evidence  of 
surviving  barbarism. 

And  it  is  true  that  in  the  marriage  ceremony  of  William  and 
Ellen  Craft,  as  has  been  stated,  Mr.  Parker  placed  a  bowie-knife, 
or  a  sword,  in  the  hand  of  the  groom  and  bade  him  defend  his 
wife  with  it.  But  he  also  charged  Craft  to  use  the  weapon  only 
in  the  last  extremity ;  to  bear  no  harsh  or  revengeful  feelings 
against  those  who  once  held  him  in  bondage,  or  such  as  sought 
to  make  him  and  his  wife  slaves  even  now.  "Nay,  if  you  cannot 
use  the  sword  in  defense  of  your  wife's  liberty  without  hating  the 
man  you  strike,  then  your  action  will  not  be  without  sin." 

Although  anti-war  sentiments  are  scattered  all  through  the 
published  works  of  Parker,  his  views  on  war  and  peace  find  fullest 
expression  in  his  "Sermon  of  War,"  preached  at  the  Melodeon, 
June  7,  1846;  in  his  speech  delivered  at  the  anti-war  meeting  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  February  4,  1847;  in  his  "Sermon  of  the  Mexican 
War,"  preached  at  the  Melodeon,  June  25,  1848 ;  and  in  his  "New 
Lesson  for  the  Day,"  delivered  in  Music  Hall,  May  25,  1856. 

In  these  sermons  and  addresses  we  find  all  the  arguments 
which  were  being  used  by  the  great  peace  workers  of  his  day,  and 
which  are  still  used  by  modern  pacifists.  I  have  wondered  how 
much  Parker  owed  to  the  peace  leaders  and  peace  literature  of  his 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING     95 

time,  and  how  mtich  he  contributed  which  was  original  with  him. 
Certainly  he  was  familiar  with  the  leaders  and  literature  of  the 
peace  movement.  He  quotes  from  Judge  William  Jay's  address 
before  the  American  Peace  Society,  which  was  delivered  in  1845. 
He  was  inspired  by  Charles  Sumner's  noble  address  on  "The  True 
Grandeur  of  Nations"  in  1845,  approved  of  its  sentiments  and  re- 
ferred to  it  with  hearty  enthusiasm.  He  was  in  closest  sympathy 
with  Sumner  and  letters  were  constantly  passing  between  them, 
this  correspondence  dating  from  the  delivery  of  said  oration.  The 
American  Peace  Society  published  "The  Book  of  Peace"  in  1845. 
In  1847,  Dr.  Beckwith,  the  secretary  of  the  American  Peace  So- 
ciety, published  his  "Manual  of  Peace,"  one  of  the  ablest  pieces 
of  pacifist  literature  ever  issued.  Parker's  "Sermon  of  War,"  which 
was  preached  in  1846  follov/s  almost  identically  the  same  arrange- 
ment as  Beckvvith's  Manual.  I  suspect  that  Parker  used  the  am- 
munition furnished  in  the  publications  of  our  American  Peace  So- 
ciety. 

He  touched  on  almost  every  phase  of  the  peace  question.  In 
general,  he  looked  upon  war  as  something  that  is  to  pass  away. 
Indeed  he  thought  that  already  it  was  practically  unnecessary.  Hear 
his  own  words :  "At  this  day,  with  all  the  enlightenment  of  our 
age  .  .  .  war  is  easily  avoided.  Whenever  it  occurs,  the  very 
fact  of  its  occurrence  convicts  the  rulers  of  a  nation  either  of  entire 
incapacity  as  statesmen,  or  else  of  the  worst  form  of  treason :  trea- 
son to  the  people,  to  mankind,  to  God.  There  is  no  alternative." 
As  Frothingham  says :  "He  was  exceedingly  curious  about  war — 
the  cost  of  it ;  the  expense  of  maintaining  armies ;  the  waste  of 
life ;  the  effects,  physical  and  moral,  on  society,  whether  to  stunt 
and  brutalize,  or  to  stimulate  and  ennoble;  its  avoidableness  or  in- 
evitableness ;  the  amount  of  guilt  implied  in  it ;  the  value  of  the 
virtues  it  educated." 

Of  those  who  stir  up  wars  he  said,  "There  are  some  men  who 
seem  to  have  no  eyes  nor  ears,  only  a  mouth ;  whose  chief  func- 
tion is  to  talk.  Of  their  talk  I  will  say  nothing;  we  look  for  dust 
in  dry  places."  These  are  good  words  to  remember  when  the 
annual  war  scare  is  trotted  out  just  as  the  naval  appropriations 
bill  comes  up  in  Congress.  "No  eyes,  no  ears,  only  mouth.  .  .  . 
Dust  in  dry  places.  How  well  this  describes  the  silly  war  talk 
of  to-day! 

Parker  had  no  patience  with  the  sentiment  uttered  by  Stephen 
Decatur.  "My  country,  right  or  wrong!"  On  the  other  hand,  he 
approved  the  idea  of  true  patriotism  as  expressed  by  John  Quincy 
Adams :  "Our  country !  May  she  be  always  successful ;  but  whether 
successful  or  not,  may  she  be  always  in  the  right!" 

Modem  history  teachers  are  coming  to  appreciate  the  truth  of 
his  contention  that  "It  is  not  of  much  importance  to  know  whether 
General  Fairfax  charged  up  hill  or  down  hill,  wore  a  blue  feather 
or  a  red  one,  or  whether  his  military  breeches  were  of  plush  or 


96 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

fustian ;  but  it  is  of  great  importance  to  know  what  ideas  were  in 
his  head  or  in  the  heads  of  his  opponents  and  of  his  soldiers,  and 
what  organization  those  ideas  got  in  the  world." 

"Manifest  destiny"  was  a  phrase  not  unknown  in  Parker's  day. 
This  cant  expression  was  not  coined  by  the  modern  imperialists. 
The  same  sarcasm  and  withering  scorn  which  Parker  turned  upon 
this  formula,  should  be  poured  upon  it  again  by  the  thinking,  right- 
eous people  of  our  own  day. 

Parker  agonized  over  the  Crimean  War  and  a  part  of  his 
sermon  on  "A  New  Lesson  for  the  Day,"  was  devoted  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  it.  In  summing  up  the  good  results  of  this  war  Mr. 
Parker  says,  "But  all  these  things  might  have  been  done  without 
drawing  a  sword  or  shedding  a  drop  of  blood."  How  true  are 
these  words  of  the  beneficent  results  of  the  world's  later  expe- 
riences in  war-making! 

The  "glory  of  war"  receives  his  consideration.  The  wanton 
slaughter  at  Tabasco  and  Vera  Cruz  in  the  Mexican  War  by  our 
troops  he  characterizes  as  cold-blooded  massacre,  and  adds,  "None 
but  a  Pequod  Indian  could  excuse  it.  Would  you  see  the  trophies 
of  Napoleon  and  Wellington?  Then  count  the  orphan  asylums 
in  Germany  and  Holland;  go  into  the  hospitals  at  Greenwich,  that 
of  the  Invalides  in  Paris ;  there  you  see  the  'trophies'  of  Napoleon 
and  Wellmgton."  "Military  glory,"  he  adds,  "is  the  poorest  kind 
of  distinction,  but  the  most  dangerous  passion.  The  glory  which 
comes  of  epaulets  and  feathers ;  that  strutting  glory  which  is  dyed 
in  blood — what  shall  we  say  of  it?  In  this  day  it  is  not  heroism; 
it  is  an  imitation  of  barbarism  long  ago  passed  by." 

He  compares  military  heroism  with  moral  courage.  "It  re- 
quires very  little  courage  to  fight  with  sword  and  musket,  and 
that  of  a  cheap  kind.  .  .  .  Every  male  animal  will  fight ;  the  more 
brutal,  the  better.  .  .  .  But  it  takes  much  to  resist  evil  with  good 
...  it  is  the  stoutest  kind  of  a  combat,  demanding  all  the  man- 
hood of  a  man." 

Parker  welcomed  any  measures  of  constructive  peacemaking. 
He  heartily  approved  those  articles  in  the  treaty  which  ended  the 
Mexican  War,  which  provided  for  arbitration  between  the  two 
nations,  if  future  hostilities  should  occur.  How  glad  would  he 
have  been  if  his  eyes  had  been  permitted  to  behold  a  world  court 
at  The  Hague! 

Should  you  ask  me  to  specify  the  chief  excellences  of  Theo- 
dore Parker  as  a  prophet  of  peace,  I  should  name  three  things; 
namely;  (1)  he  emphasized  the  economic  waste  of  the  war  sys- 
tem; (2)  he  laid  great  stress  on  the  moral,  or  immoral,  effects  of 
war;  and  (3)  he  unceasingly  preached  democracy,  and  argued  that 
the  people  had  a  right  to  put  an  end  to  wars. 

He  never  tired  of  bearing  down  heavily  on  the  economic  waste 
of  war.  In  all  his  sermons  and  addresses  on  war  topics,  almost 
invariably  he  begins  by  considering  the  cost  of  war  in  money,  prop- 


ABR4HAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 97 

erty,  loss  of  life,  etc.  We  have  already  quoted  one  of  his  biog- 
raphers as  saying  that  "he  was  exceedingly  curious  about  war — 
the  cost  of  it.  .  .  .  His  inquiries  extended  as  far  as  to  the  strength 
of  cannon  and  the  ordinary  supply  of  ammunition  kept  on  hand 
by  the  government."  I  do  not  think  that  this  biographer  has  ade- 
quatelv  interpreted  Theodore  Parker  in  describing  him  as  "ex- 
ceedingly curious"  about  the  cost  of  war.  It  was  something  deeper 
than  curiosity.  The  truth  is,  Parker  was  a  sound  economist.  He 
anticipated  the  day  when  men  would  be  educated  to  think  in  eco- 
nomic terms,  and  when  waste  would  be  looked  upon  as  immoral. 
We  are  just  coming  to  this  in  our  own  day.  Parker  was  seventy- 
five  years  ahead  of  his  times.  Because  he  looked  at  things  from 
the  viewpoint  of  a  true  economist,  he  went  into  all  sorts  of  eco- 
nomic comparisons.  He  showed  how  war  paralyzes  industry.  He 
traced  the  actual  destruction  of  property  by  war.  He  quoted  gov- 
ernment statistics  to  show  how  great  was  the  sum  expended  for 
army,  navy  and  fortifications.  (What  would  he  say  if  living  to- 
day?) He  compared  the  cost  of  battleships  and  navy  yards  with 
the  amount  invested  in  schools,  colleges,  libraries,  etc.  His  con- 
clusion was  that  the  "soldier  is  the  most  unprofitable  animal  you 
can  keep,"  and  that  "a  country  is  the  poorer  for  every  soldier  it 
maintains."  Thus  did  Parker,  as  prophet  of  peace,  anticipate  con- 
servation and  the  whole  economic  movement  of  our  day. 

Nor  did  this  keen  visioned  seer  lay  less  stress  on  the  moral 
aspect  of  war.  He  lamented  war,  especially  an  unjust  and  iniq- 
uitous one  like  the  Mexican  War,  as  a  sin,  as  a  corruption  of  public 
morals,  as  a  denial  of  Christianity.  He  pictured  camps  as 
schools  of  vice  and  showed  that  an  increase  in  crime  is  the  invari- 
able sequence  of  a  war.  He  went  on  to  trace  the  moral  damage 
which  war  inflicts  on  generals,  on  political  parties,  on  the  nations 
which  engage  in  it.  He  pays  his  respects  to  "chaplains  who  teach 
the  soldiers  to  wad  their  muskets  with  leaves  of  the  Bible,"  and 
to  the  priest  who  gives  thanks  for  "a  famous  victory"  and  hangs 
up  the  bloody  standard  over  his  pulpit.  Nor  does  he  spare  the 
victorious  general  who  rose  to  his  extreme  intellectual  and  moral 
height  when  he  exclaimed  in  a  certain  battle,  "Give  'em  hell,  damn 
'em !"  and  for  this  was  made  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
Theodore  Parker  who  would  write  to  Charles  Sumner,  begging 
him  to  be  "the  Senator  zvith  a  conscience"  could  not  help  consider- 
ing war  from  the  view-point  of  its  effect  on  morals. 

Moreover,  Parker  was  a  great  democrat.  The  cause  of  the 
people  never  had  a  sturdier  or  more  loyal  champion  than  this  farmer 
preacher  and  hard-hitting  reformer.  It  was  Theodore  Parker  who 
forged  the  thunderbolt  which  Abraham  Lincoln  used  with  such 
telling  effect  in  his  Gettysburg  address — "government  of  the  peo- 
ple, by  the  people,  for  the  people."  To  him  "the  great  business  of 
society  is  not  merely  to  have  farms  and  shops — but  to  have  men — 
men  that  are  conscious  of  their  manhood,  self-respectful,  earnest 


98 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

men,  that  have  a  faith  in  the  living  God."  Persons  are  of  more 
importance  than  property,  he  contended.  With  true  seerlike  vision 
he  affirmed  that  the  work  providentially  laid  out  for  us  to  do  is 
to  organize  the  rights  of  man.  With  such  ideals,  he  showed  that 
war  is  hostile  to  democracy,  and  that  the  burden  of  war  falls  upon 
the  humbler  classes,  while  the  glory  goes  to  the  aristocrats — the 
officers.  He  believed  that  the  people  had  a  right  to  discuss  the 
wars  which  they  have  to  fight  and  pay  for,  and  protested  against 
any  attempt  to  overawe  popular  discussion  by  a  display  of  bayonets. 
Thus  was  Parker  economist,  moralist  and  democrat,  and,  as 
such,  a  warrior  against  war.  It  is  just  now  being  borne  in  upon 
us  that  society  can  be  enduring,  or  endurable,  only  as  it  is  based 
upon  sound  economic  principles,  morality  and  democracy.  Parker 
saw  this  and  bravely  sounded  his  pioneer's  message.  That  he  was 
a  faithful  and  unwavering  champion  of  peace  principles  is  perhaps 
best  attested  by  the  fact  that  several  persons  left  Parker's  church 
because  of  his  uncompromising  opposition  to  war. 

/// — The    Wars   and   the   Increase   of   War  Establishments   Since 
Theodore  Parker's  Day. 

Having  viewed  Theodore  Parker  as  a  fighter  and  as  a  pacifist, 
w-e  are  now  to  ask  whether  there  has  been  any  growth  away  from 
war  in  the  last  fifty  years.  At  first  glance  it  seems  as  though  no 
progress  had  been  made,  for  during  this  period  some  of  the  most 
terrible  wars  in  all  history  have  been  fought. 

The  dryest  enumeration  of  the  wars  of  the  last  half  century 
is  a  blood-curdling  catalogue  of  human  misery.  We  have  spoken 
of  Parker's  attitude  toward  the  Mexican  War  and  his  horror  at 
the  efifusion  of  blood  in  the  Crimean  War  (1853-1856).  during 
which  nearly  two-thirds  of  a  million  men  laid  down  their  lives  on 
the  battlefields  of  Alma,  Balaklava,  Inkermann,  and  Malakhofif,  un- 
til at  last  the  Treaty  of  Paris  was  signed.  This  terrible  war  arose 
from  a  dispute  as  to  whether  the  Greek  or  Latin  church  should 
have  possession  of  the  holy  places  in  Palestine.  England  and  France 
sided  with  Turkey  against  Russia.  Many  years  after  the  Crimean 
War,  a  Prime  Minister  of  Great  Britain  declared,  "We  put  our 
money  on  the  wrong  horse  that  time."  (Report  of  London  Peace 
Congress,  1908,  p.  72.)  In  Parker's  lifetime  also  came,  in  1856, 
the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  Persia,  which  was  ended  by 
a  proclamation  of  peace  in  1857.  Moreover,  he  knew  of  the  Indian 
mutiny,  which  raged  from  1857  to  1859.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  this  rebellion  grew  out  of  the  refusal  of  the  Sepoys,  or  native 
soldiers  in  India,  to  use  the  cartridges  furnished  by  the  British 
government,  because  said  cartridges  were  said  to  be  greased  with 
tallow  or  lard,  which  was  an  insult  to  their  religion,  since  a  Hindu 
is  forbidden  to  touch  cows'  fat ;  and  a  Mohammedan,  lard.  Terrible 
massacres  of  the  whites  took  place  at  Delhi,  Cawnpore  and  other 
places,   while   Lucknow  was  relieved  just   in  time  to  save  the  be- 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING  99 

leaguered  English  from  a  similar  fate.  In  1859,  too,  the  Italian 
war  of  1859,  took  place.  In  this  war  with  its  terrible  battles  of 
Magenta,  Solferino.  etc.,  Austria,  France  and  Piedmont  lost  24,000 
men,  while  the  Franco-Sardinian  army  alone  had  over  100,000 
soldiers  disabled  by  disease. 

Only  a  few  months  after  the  death  of  Theodore  Parker  in 
Florence,  Italy,  our  own  great  Civil  War  burst  forth.  What 
pathetic  memories  are  called  up  by  the  very  mention  of  Bull  Run, 
Shiloh,  Seven  Days,  Antietam,  Murfreesborough,  Chancellorsville, 
Vicksburg,  Gettysburg,  Chickamauga,  Chattanooga,  the  Virginia 
and  Atlanta  campaigns !  A  million  able  bodied  men  laid  down 
their  lives.  Thank  God,  time  is  softening  the  asperities,  and  the 
Blue  and  the  Gray  are  touching  shoulders  once  more  as  they  to- 
gether march  swiftly  to  the  grave. 

In  1864  Denmark,  Prussia  and  Austria  waged  the  short  Schles- 
wig-Holstein  War,  in  which  3,500  lives  were  lost. 

The  year  1866  was  marked  by  the  Seven  Weeks'  War  between 
Prussia  and  Austria  in  which  the  battle  of  Koniggratz  or  Sadowa 
made  Prussia  supreme  in  Germany.  Fifty-seven  thousand  lives 
were  a  part  of  the  cost  of  this  war. 

Brazil,  Argentine  and  Paraguay,  between  1864  and  1870,  lost 
330,000  men  in  war. 

In  1870  France,  "with  a  light  heart,"  declared  war  against 
Germany.  Napoleon  III.  was  jealous  of  the  growing  power  of 
Germany,  under  Bismarck's  skillful  negotiations,  and  easily  found 
an  excuse  for  resorting  to  arms.  In  this  Franco-Prussian  War 
the  terrible  battles  of  Worth,  Gravelotte,  Sedan,  Metz  and  Paris 
were  fought,  in  which  the  losses  of  life  aggregated  311,000.  Paris 
was  captured,  and  Alsace  and  Lorraine  were  annexed  by  the  vic- 
torious Germans. 

Another  terrible  war  was  the  Russo-Turkish  one  in  1877-78. 
Plevna,  Shipka  Pass,  Kars,  etc.,  are  names  representing  fierce  fight- 
ing and  the  sacrifice  of  180,000  human  lives.  The  peace  of  San 
Stefano  and  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  ended  this  war. 

Mention  also  should  be  made  of  the  various  European  expe- 
ditions to  Mexico.  Morocco,  China,  Lebanon,  Paraguay,  etc.,  be- 
tween the  years  1861-1867,  in  which  65,000  men  perished.  The 
Zulu  and  Afghan  wars  in  1879  cost  40,000  lives. 

In  1894-95  came  the  war  between  China  and  Japan,  in  which 
Japan  was  victorious,  the  Chinese  navy  being  practically  destroyed 
in  the  battle  of  the  Yalu  River.  No  statistics  as  to  loss  of  life  are 
at  hand,  but  the  losses  are  estimated  at  15,000. 

From  1868  onward,  for  thirty  years,  Cuban  revolutionists  made 
attempt  after  attempt  to  wrest  Cuba  from  Spain.  In  1898,  after 
the  blowing  up  of  the  battleship  "Maine,"  the  United  States  joined 
with  the  insurrectionists  and  Cuba  was  freed  from  Spain.  This 
ranks  as  a  very  small  war ;  only  about  6,000  lives  were  sacrificed. 


100 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

But  as  a  sequel  to  the  war  with  Spain  came  the  PhiHppine 
war  in  which  from  5,000  to  10,000  American  soldiers  perished, 
while  between  500,000  and  1,000,000  Filipinos  are  estimated  to 
have  lost  their  lives. 

Anglo-Boer  troubles  dragged  on  intermittently  in  South  Africa 
from  1876  till  the  breaking  out  of  the  Boer  War  in  1899.  The 
struggle  during  the  next  two  or  three  years  cost  England  alone 
28,000  lives.  The  sum  total  of  British  and  Boer  losses,  including 
the  deaths  of  women  and  children  in  reconcentrado  camps,  mounted 
up  to  some  91,000  lives. 

The  giant  struggle  between  Russia  and  Japan  which  broke  out 
in  1904,  cost  the  two  nations  over  half  a  million  lives,  not  to  men- 
tion the  wounded. 

In  1909,  the  troubles  and  discontent  in  Morocco  came  to  a 
head  and  Spain  waged  a  repressive  war  against  the  Moors. 

These  are  the  principal  wars  of  the  last  half  century.  No 
time  remains  to  speak  of  our  own  Indian  campaigns,  or  of  the 
Latin  American  revolutions,  or  of  "the  little  wars"  waged  by  na- 
tions. Of  these  "little  wars,"  Great  Britain  alone  had  eighty  dur- 
ing the  nineteenth  century. 

IV — The  Increased  Expenditures  for  War  Purposes. 

From  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  nearly  three  million 
human  lives  have  perished  on  battlefields,  while  the  direct  money 
cost  of  the  wars  has  footed  up  to  over  sixteen  billions  of  dollars. 
But  this  is  only  a  small  item  of  the  total  "butcher's  bill."  Armed 
peace  to-day  is  more  expensive  then  war  itself  was  in  former  days. 
Europe  probably  has  expended,  since  the  Franco-Prussian  War, 
48  billions  of  dollars  for  the  maintenance  of  armies  and  navies. 
According  to  the  British  prime  minister,  the  "civilized"  nations 
are  expending  between  two  and  two  and  a  half  billions  of  dollars 
annually  for  war  purposes. 

A  most  remarkable  document  has  just  been  issued,  namely,  the 
report  of  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  the  Cost  of  Living, 
1910.  This  commission  was  appointed  by  the  Legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts. The  report  shows  that  the  extravagances  and  wastes  of 
our  political  and  social  system  are  "a  main  factor  in  the  present 
burdensome  cost  of  living."  As  the  chief  of  all  these  wastes  it  ar- 
raigns the  world's  war  system  and  the  monstrous  expenditures  for 
armaments.  I  want  to  urge  that  each  of  you  secure  and  care- 
fully read  this  report,  or  that  part  of  it  which  bears  upon  the  cost 
of  militarism. 

Let  me  at  least  quote  at  some  length : 

"As  showing  the  enormous  demands  that  militarism  makes  up- 
on resources,  let  us  first  note  the  comparative  expenditures  of  the 
national  treasury  for  the  thirty-one  years  from  1879  to  1909.     The 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 101_ 

figures  are  given  both  in  amounts  and  in  percentages  of  national 
revenue  as  follows : 

Army    $  2,465,096,479  equal  to  20.2  per  cent 

Navy    1,456,795,867  equal  to  11.9  per  cent 

Pensions  3,499,883,832  equal  to  28.7  per  cent 

Interest    1,309,026,795  equal  to  10.7  per  cent 

Total    $12,210,499,778  equal  to  71.5  per  cent 

"The  balance  of  the  national  income  for  those  thirty-one  years, 
amounting  to  $3,479,696,805,  or  28.5  per  cent  of  the  whole,  was 
spent  upon  the  civil  administration  of  national  affairs,  Indians,  leg- 
islation, law,  justice,  customs  service,  and  all  other  miscellaneous 
activities  of  the  nation. 

"Thus  during  this  period  71.5  per  cent  of  the  nation's  income, 
almost  three  dollars  out  of  every  four  of  revenue,  was  spent  on 
the  destructive  agencies  of  war,  for  the  interest  paid  on  the  debts 
contracted  for  warlike  purposes,  and  in  pensions  to  the  victims  of 
war, — the  army  of  surviving  economic  inefficients  created  by  war. 

"The  national  debt  of  the  United  States  is  a  monument  to  our 
past  wars. 

"Eliminating  the  nominal  debt  indicated  by  notes  and  paper 
currency  in  circulation,  with  other  credits,  and  assuming  the  pop- 
ulation of  the  United  States  to  be  94,000,000,  the  per  capita  debt 
would  amount  to  almost  exactly  $10.00. 

"In  addition,  there  are  debts  of  the  states,  counties,  and  cities 
of  the  country,  about  25  per  cent  at  least  of  which  may  be  assumed 
to  have  been  the  contribution  of  the  states  to  national  militarism, 
the  rest  of  the  debt  being  supposedly  for  improvements  represent- 
ing economic  values.  These  debts  represent  an  average  per  capita 
which,  added  to  the  national  per  capita,  yields  a  total  debt  of  $36.80 
per  capita. 

"In  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  years  of  our  national  ex- 
istence, besides  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  we  have  had  wars  with 
three  foreign  powers, — England,  Mexico,  and  Spain.  Whether  or 
not  any  or  all  of  these  wars  were  preventable  is  a  matter  of  merely 
academic  interest  at  this  time.  Though  they  covered  only  six  years 
of  our  national  life,  and  the  rebellion  four,  these  ten  years  were 
responsible  for  our  huge  debts.  It  is  worth  recalling  that  during 
the  life  of  the  republic  we  have  spent  for  all  purposes  the  sum  of 
$21,518,871,351,  and  of  this  amount  $16,567,677,135  was  devoted 
to  militarism  and  its  incidents  and  only  $4,951,194,216  to  the  activi- 
ties of  peace. 

"The  enormous  national  debt  of  England  has  been  piled  up 
almost  exclusively  by  the  constant  wars,  great  and  small,  in  which 


102 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

she  has  been  engaged.  The  growth  of  this  debt  from  its  inception 
to  date  is  interesting  economically ;  it  began,  in  England,  practically 
with  the  establishment  of  a  standing  army  of  a  permanent  character. 

"In  1800,  while  the  ordinary  administrative  civil  expenditures 
of  this  republic  amounted  to  only  $1,330,000,  the  expenditures  for 
pensions  and  naval  and  military  purposes  reached  the  sum  of  $9,- 
470,000.  The  country's  debt  in  1812  was  about  $45,200,000,  but  by 
the  time  the  war  with  England  closed  it  had  been  run  up  to  $127,- 
300,000.  The  country  then  settled  down  to  the  ways  of  peace,  in- 
dustry and  trade  in  a  national  sense,  our  only  trouble  being  petty 
Indian  outbreaks,  so  that  by  the  time  of  the  Mexican  War  the  na- 
tional debt  had  been  paid  off. 

"The  expenses  of  the  government  have  since  been  constantly 
increasing;  but  although  the  extension  of  territorial  settlement  and 
the  increase  of  population  would  have  entailed  increased  expenses 
in  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  the  largest  item  of  expense 
has  always  been  for  military  affairs,  army  and  navy.  The  War  of 
the  Rebellion,  with  its  waste  and  loss,  may  have  been  preventable ; 
we  are  to  look  at  that  tremendous  contest  simply  from  its  economic 
side.  Its  effects  on  every  phase  of  American  life  were  far-reach- 
ing, and  on  none  so  impressive  as  on  the  economic  side.  Five  years 
after  its  close  the  United  States,  in  1870,  as  a  result  of  it,  was 
paying  out  in  interest  charges  alone  twice  as  much  as  the  whole 
cost  of  the  government  in  1860.  Prior  to  the  Rebellion  the  budget 
of  the  army  and  navy  amounted  to  $27,980,000,  and,  though  the 
vast  armies  that  had  carried  on  the  struggle  had  vanished  and  were 
absorbed  into  civil  life,  the  army  and  navy  in  1870  cost  the  country 
$79,430,000. 

"The  following  table  of  the  indebtedness  of  the  principal  Eu- 
ropean countries  and  their  dependencies  is  an  impressive  showing 
of  the  enormous  capital  taken  from  productive  industry  and  the 
work  of  civilization,  and  wasted  in  death  and  destruction.  The  debt 
thus  piled  up  for  war  and  waste  remains  a  burden  on  the  life  of 
the  world, — a  burden  calling  every  year  for  a  huge  interest  pay- 
ment of  more  than  a  billion  dollars  taken  from  the  earnings  of 
the  nations.  This  is  supplemented  annually  by  many  other  billions 
to  maintain  huge  armies  and  navies  of  men  taken  from  industry, 
who  are  organized,  trained  and  maintained  for  the  day  when  they 
will  again  be  hurled  at  each  other,  to  duplicate  the  destruction  of 
the  past  and  piie  up  new  and  heavier  burdens  upon  the  thrift  and 
industry  of  the  world. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 103 

"Indebtedness  of  nations,  with  amount  of  interest  payments, 
computed  up  to  the  year  1906: 

Annual 
Country  National  Debt.         Int.  Paym'ts. 

Austria-Hungary  $  1.092,863,255        $     48,214,794 

Belgium  621,640,286  24,925,694 

Denmark   64,231,713  2,197,120 

France 5,655,134,825  237,855,497 

French  Algiers 6,323,838  737,440 

German  Empire 855,963,454  30,358,300 

German  States 2,957,356,846  120,537,100 

Netherlands    458,069,211  14,718,505 

Portugal    864,701,627  21,369,000 

Roumania   278,249,239  16,086,604 

Russia   4,038,199,722  172,385,884 

Russia,  Finland  27,073,900  1,205,734 

Switzerland 19,787,648  1,037,642 

Turkey    458,603,213  9,499,450 

United  Kingdom  3,839,620,745  150,295,210 

British  Colonies 612,510,084  22,802,418 

Spain  1,899,265,995  69,256,706 

Italy 2,767,911,940  190,803,281 

Totals    $26,517,504,541        $1,134,296,179 

"We  cannot,  in  view  of  these  considerations,  escape  the  fact 
that  militarism  is  a  cause  of  enormous  waste  in  this  age.  Its  world- 
wide existence  and  character  make  it  the  most  difficult  of  all  prob- 
lems to  solve,  just  as  the  logic  upon  which  its  existence  is  based 
is  the  most  intractable  to  combat  and  controvert.  National  honor 
and  safety  are  the  catchwords  of  a  system  that  is  bleeding  the 
world  to  death ;  the  former,  shadowy  though  it  may  be,  is  more 
in  evidence  abroad  than  at  home ;  and  so  far  in  the  life  of  the 
republic  the  latter  has  been  jeoparded  more  frequently  by  our  in- 
habitants than  by  foreign  foes.  Nevertheless,  the  bogey  of  foreign 
aggression  and  invasion  is  periodically  invoked  to  bolster  up  the  sys- 
tem of  militarism  whenever  it  appears  to  need  support  and  when- 
ever the  appropriations  do  not  meet  the  desires  of  those  whose 
economic  existence  depends  upon  the  production  of  the  instru- 
mentalities of  war  and  waste." 

It  must  be  admitted  that  during  the  last  fifty  years  there  has 
been  an  increase  of  war  establishments  and  a  piling  up  of  war  ex- 
penditures such  as  this  old  war-cursed,  blood-drenched  earth  never 
witnessed  before.  But  the  very  burdensomeness  of  the  system  is 
the  hopeful  thing.  The  world  is  being  "stung  broad  awake"  and 
once  it  gets  its  eyes  open,  will  speedily  consign  war  to  the  scrap- 
pile  of  wornout  institutions. 


104 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Moreover  there  is  a  brighter  side  to  the  picture.  As  Mr.  Emer- 
son said,  in  Theodore  Parker's  day:  "War  is  a  juvenile  and  tem- 
porary state.  .  .  .  History  is  .  .  .  the  record  of  the  mitigation 
and  decline  of  war.  ...  A  universal  peace  is  as  sure  as  the  prev- 
alence of  civilization  over  barbarism,  of  liberal  governments  over 
feudal  forms  .  .  .  It  is  a  thought  that  built  this  portentous  war- 
establishment,  and  a  thought  shall  also  melt  it  away."  If  Emerson 
and  Parker  could  perceive  this  truth  and  preach  it  in  their  day, 
how  much  more  easily  we  may  see  it  in  ours  when  we  consider 

V — The  Progress  of  International  Peacemaking  During  the  Last 

Fifty  Years. 

1 — Think  of  the  growth  of  peace  sentiments  as  organized  in 
peace  societies  and  parallel  movements.  Not  only  have  the  century- 
old  peace  societies,  like  the  American  and  London,  greatly  increased 
in  influence,  but  societies  have  multiplied  all  over  the  world  and  a 
permanent  international  bureau  is  maintained  at  Berne,  Switzer- 
land. There  are  now  two  peace  societies  in  Japan.  One  of  these, 
the  Japan  Peace  Society,  was  organized  two  or  three  years  ago, 
and  our  American  Peace  Society  contributed  some  money  to  help 
get  the  baby  born.  Today  that  infant  is  a  pretty  lusty  fellow. 
Count  Okuma,  former  secretary  of  state,  is  the  president  and  takes 
a  deep  personal  interest  in  the  movement.  The  American  and 
British  Ambassadors  have  recently  joined  the  society  and  are  in- 
terested members.  The  great  business  men  are  lending  their 
support. 

During  the  past  ten  months,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  a 
peace  society  was  organized  in  Russia,  and  the  most  interesting 
figure  on  the  floor  of  our  last  Universal  Peace  Congress,  which 
was  held  in  Stockholm  in  August,  was  the  president  of  the  pro- 
gressive party  in  the  Russian  Douma,  Another  participant  in  the 
Congress  was  Ahmed  Riza  Bey,  the  head  of  the  Chamber  of  Dep- 
uties of  Turkey. 

Wherever  the  work  of  organizing  is  being  pushed,  the  best 
and  the  most  influential  people  are  enlisting.  The  society  in  New 
York  has  doubled  its  membership  in  a  year.  Since  opening  our 
office  in  Chicago  in  January,  five  hundred  of  the  prominent  busi- 
ness men  of  the  city  have  joined.  The  American  School  Peace 
League,  the  International  School  of  Peace,  the  Intercollegiate  Peace 
Association  and  the  Cosmopolitan  Clubs  are  covering  the  field  of 
educational  institutions  as  never  before.  Mohonk  Conference  has 
enlisted  all  the  great  Boards  of  Trade  and  Chambers  of  Commerce 
in  the  country.  The  great  denominations  are  beginning  to  align 
themselves  on  the  side  of  peace.  Socialism  and  organized  labor 
constitute  the  largest  and  most  pronounced  anti-militaristic  bodies 
in  the  world.  The  Interparliamentary  Union,  made  up  of  members 
of  the  various  national  legislatures  of  the  world,  now  numbers 
over  3,000  in  its  membership,  and  its  influence  is  increasing  year  by 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 105 

year.  Trade  and  commerce  can  evolve  only  as  peace  prevails.  The 
evolution  of  the  world  is  headed  in  the  direction  of  peace  and  by 
1950  our  peace  societies  will  be  able  to  disband,  because  their  work 
will  be  done. 

For  consider, 

2 — Arbitration  has  come  to  be  an  international  habit.  Within 
the  last  half  century  the  world  has  formed  the  habit  of  settling  in- 
ternational disputes  by  arbitration,  instead  of  by  war.  War  is  now 
the  rare  exception,  and  arbitration  the  general  rule.  Think  of  the 
Geneva  Award,  by  which  the  controversy  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  over  the  Alabama  Claims  was  settled.  Think 
of  the  Dogger  Bank  incident ;  the  commission  of  inquiry,  appointed 
from  The  Hague,  undoubtedly  averted  war  between  Great  Britain 
and  Russia.  Think  of  the  fisheries  case,  which  was  terminated  by 
a  decision  of  the  Hague  court  rendered  September  7,  1910.  Think 
of  the  hundred  or  more  treaties,  signed  within  the  last  seven  years, 
containing  arbitration  agreements.  Think  of  Mr.  Taft's  noble  plea 
that  all  international  disputes,  whether  involving  so-called  ques- 
tions of  national  honor  or  vital  interest,  be  submitted  to  The  Hague. 

Consider  moreover, 

3 — The  increasing  number  of  inter-governmental  enterprises. 
Almost  every  year  witnesses  the  organization  of  some  new  inter- 
national undertaking.  For  thirty-five  years  the  Universal  Postal 
Union  has  been  operated  by  the  nations  of  the  world.  Similar, 
though  younger  and  not  so  well  known  or  so  completely  equipped, 
enterprises  may  be  numbered  by  the  dozen.  I  know  of  no  more 
fascinating  stories  than  certain  articles  from  the  pens  of  Governor- 
elect  Simeon  E.  Baldwin  and  Prof.  Paul  S.  Reinsch,  on  interna- 
tional congresses,  international  unions,  and  the  interdependence  of 
states.  They  read  like  romance,  they  are  romantic,  and,  best  of  all, 
romance  is  being  hammered  out  into  international  institutions. 

Through  the  International  Bureau  of  American  Republics,  now 
housed  in  its  beautiful  building  in  Washington,  D.  C,  twenty-one 
American  republics  work  together.  Then,  too,  Pan-American 
conferences  are  acquiring  more  and  more  importance.  Moreover, 
Central  America  has  an  international  court,  to  which  the  five  sig- 
natory powers  have  agreed  to  submit  all  their  disputes. 

4 — Then  there  are  the  Hague  institutions, — the  periodic  con- 
ference, assembling  every  seven  or  eight  years,  and  the  court  of 
arbitration,  to  which  cases  are  being  submitted  with  increasing 
frequency.  These  institutions  little  by  little  will  be  perfected,  en- 
larged and  clothed  with  more  and  more  power.  Mr.  Knox  intimates 
that  the  permanent  court  of  arbitral  justice  will  soon  be  set  up. 
This  will  be  a  real  court,  with  the  same  judges  sitting  on  all  cases, 
a  court  always  in  session,  waiting  for  the  case.  Our  Secretary  of 
State  prophesies  that  we  shall  be  getting  decisions  from  this  new 
court  before  the  assembling  of  the  Third  Hague  Conference.  Once 
get  such  a  court,  created  by  the  nations  jointly,  a  tribunal  in  whose 


106 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES       

integrity  the  nations  have  confidence,  and  the  need  for  resorting 
to  arms  not  only  will  have  passed,  but  the  nation  that  takes  the 
law  into  its  own  hands  by  resorting  to  force,  will  be  treated  as  a 
disturber  of  the  peace  and  forfeit  the  respect  of  civilized  powers. 
So  near  are  we  to  the  realization  of  such  a  court  that  we  can  prac- 
tically look  upon  the  problem  as  solved. 

Only  one  real  problem  remains,  and  that  is  how  to  induce  the 
nations  to  discontinue  the  present  ruinous  expenditures  for  rival 
armaments.  Already  machinery  has  been  set  in  motion  to  produce 
the  much  desired  result.  Last  spring  a  bill  was  introduced  into 
Congress,  and  passed  both  houses,  for  the  creation  of  a  commis- 
sion, to  work  with  similar  commissions  from  the  other  powers. 
(Great  Britain  already  has  appointed  hers  and  the  Interparliament- 
ary Union  voted  to  urge  all  its  members  to  have  their  respective 
governments  appoint  such  commissions).  The  function  of  this  joint 
commission,  as  I  understand  it,  is  to  devise  some  plan  which  will 
make  such  vast  military  and  naval  establishments  unnecessary, 
either  by  a  league  of  peace  entered  into  by  as  many  nations  as  are 
vv^lling  to  unite  for  this  purpose,  or  by  a  general  agreement  of 
all  the  nations  as  to  a  limitation  of  armaments,  or  some  other  plan 
which  may  commend  itself.  The  point  is,  we  have  already  taken 
actual  steps  towards  concerted  action  of  all  the  nations  for 
the  solution  of  the  one  real  problem  which  remains. 

The  history  of  great  reform  movements  shows  that  when  a 
movement  gets  down  to  its  final  stage,  it  then  moves  with  exceed- 
ing rapidity.  Is  it  too  much,  therefore,  to  say  that  it  is  not  im- 
possible, but  highly  probable,  that  most  of  us  present  here  will 
live  to  see  the  passing  of  war,  just  as  the  last  generation  witnessed 
the  passing  of  chattel  slavery?  So  great  has  been  the  growth  away 
from  war  during  the  last  fifty  years,  that,  if  the  present  rate  of 
progress  is  maintained,  another  half-century  will  not  have  passed 
before  the  present  system  of  competitive  armed  peace  shall  have 
yielded  to  a  less  expensive,  less  dangerous,  more  rational  and  more 
satisfactory  system.  The  necessities  of  economic,  industrial,  com- 
mercial, political,  social  and  moral  evolution  are  so  imperative,  and 
the  forces  that  are  working  with  us  are  so  irresistible  as  to  admit 
of  no  doubt.  Peace,  as  the  Baroness  von  Suttner  so  well  says,  is 
inevitable.  Theodore  Parker  and  Elihu  Burritt  (who  also  was  born 
one  hundred  years  ago  this  year),  and  Emerson  and  Charles  Sumner 
and  William  Jay  and  William  Ladd  are  coming  to  their  own.  Most 
rapidly,  before  our  wondering  eyes,  are  their  prophecies  being  ful- 
filled. The  fulness  of  time  is  here.  By  the  middle  of  the  present 
century  peace  secretaries  will  find  it  as  difficult  to  find  a  job  as 
do  the  men  who  specialize  in  picking  blossoms  off  of  century  plants. 
Surely  the  admirals  and  armor-plate  manufacturers  need  not  com- 
plain that  we  are  trying  to  put  them  out  of  a  job ;  with  none  the 
less  ardor  we  are  trying  to  put  ourselves  out  of  a  job.  When 
gun-users  and  gun-makers  and  gun-haters  are  all  out  of  jobs  to- 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 107 

gether,  then  we  can  all  go  to  work  at  education,  conservation,  at 
scientific  and  industrial  and  commercial  development  enterprises, 
having  ample  funds  to  do  some  big  things  that  are  really  worth 
while,  because  then  the  world's  resources  will  be  applied  to  con- 
structive uses. 

Will  you  permit  a  word  of  personal  experience  in  closing?  I 
must  confess  that  I  had  never  read  Theodore  Parker  before  this 
summer  and  fall.  To  go  through  two  or  three  of  his  biographies 
and  to  read  the  dozen  or  more  volumes  of  his  published  works,  has 
been  like  inhalations  of  ozone.  Health,  honesty,  wholesomeness, 
loyalty  and  manliness  come  to  one  as  he  reads  those  messages  of 
that  utterly  fearless,  truth-loving  preacher,  philosopher  and  re- 
former. Up  in  the  White  Mountains  I  have  seen  the  bark  of  white 
pine  trees  torn  almost  into  shreds  by  bears.  The  bears  stretch  up 
to  their  utmost  height  and  dig  their  claws  into  the  tree  as  high 
up  as  they  can  reach.  1  have  been  told  that  this  is  their  method 
of  challenging  one  another.  That  mighty  scratch,  high  up  from 
the  ground  says  to  the  next  bear  that  comes  past  the  tree,  "I  am 
a  bigger  fellow  than  you."  The  reading  of  a  great  biography  does 
just  that  for  me.  It  challenges  me  to  stretch  up  and  match  my  life 
to  the  life  of  great  usefulness  and  nobility  whose  story  I  am  read- 
ing. Just  as  Theodore  Parker  gathered  inspiration  from  his  grand- 
father's rifle  and  the  captured  king's  arm,  so  may  we  gather  in- 
spiration from  his  noble  utterances,  his  noble  deeds  and  this  noble 
celebration  of  his  noble  life. 

And  what  would  Theodore  Parker  say  to  us  if  he  lived  to-day? 
1  fancy  he  would  say,  if  he  could  see  the  great  waste  of  the  world's 
resources  in  military  expenditures,  if  he  could  see  the  machinery 
of  international  justice  so  rapidly  being  perfected,  if  he  could  see 
how  near  the  world  is  to  the  realization  of  a  system  of  world 
housekeeping  that  shall  be  economical,  moral  and  democratic, — "Or- 
ganize peace  on  earth!"  You  know  he  used  to  say  that  America's 
special  mission  is  to  organize  the  rights  of  man.  So,  I  fancy,  if 
he  could  see  what  the  world's  greatest  leak  and  greatest  danger  are 
to-day,  if  he  could  see  the  reform  that  is  ripest  and  most  needed, 
he  would  say,  "Organize  peace  on  earth !  Put  the  angel's  song  into 
international  terms !"  And  I  fancy  that  he  would  say  to  men  and 
women  everywhere  to-day,  "Join  the  peace  societies.  If  you  really 
want  to  get  rid  of  war  once  and  for  all,  organize !  Evil  organizes 
itself.  Militarism  is  well  organized.  Organization  must  be  met 
with  organization,  zeal  with  zeal,  error  with  truth!  Then  organize! 
If  you  have  not  yet  paid  your  mite  to  identify  yourself  with  the 
peace  army,  you  have  not  done  your  duty  as  a  man !  Organize ! 
Join !  Join  this  very  day !"  And  if  Theodore  Parker  were  here  to 
say  this,  and  if  he  should  say  it,  he  would  be  once  more  a  true 
prophet  of  peace.  For  the  thing  that  needs  saying  most  to-day,  is 
just  this — organize,  join !  In  an  organized,  effective,  adequate  way, 
I  beg  you  then,  help  to  put  the  Christmas  message  into  interna- 


108 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

tional  agreements,  international  statutes,  international  institutions. 
To  honor  Theodore  Parker  as  a  peace  prophet,  while  neglecting 
to  take  up  the  high  and  holy  cause  he  entrusted  to  our  keeping, 
would  mean  insincerity,  irreverence,  an  insult  to  his  memory,  and 
the  moral  deterioration  of  our  own  character.  The  best  way  to 
honor  a  prophet  is  to  complete  his  work. 


Mr.  Jones:  One  of  my  favorite  stories  of  Lincoln  is  related 
of  his  short,  and,  as  he  called  it,  inglorious  military  career,  when 
he  was  much  stronger  in  the  affections  of  his  men  than  he  was  in 
the  tactics  of  the  army.  He  is  said  to  have  been  drilling  his  men 
one  day  in  an  open  field  and  he  had  them  marching  in  line  and 
they  were  steadily  moving  on  toward  a  gate  that  was  too  narrow 
to  let  the  line  through,  and  he  says  that  for  the  time  being  he  had 
forgotten  the  word  of  command  that  would  move  the  company 
"eendwise."  Finally,  as  a  last  resort,  he  says,  "Company,  halt !"  and 
then  added,  "This  company  will  break  ranks  for  two  minutes  and 
reorganize  on  the  other  side  of  the  gate."  And  the  military 
movement  was  successfully  accomplished. 

Now,  if  I  knew  how  to  move  this  company  endwise  I  would 
march  them  down  to  St.  Paul's  church,  corner  of  Thirtieth  and 
Prairie  avenue,  for  a  continuation  of  this  great,  great  program. 
Failing  that,  we  will  adjourn — break  ranks,  adjourn  just  long 
enough  for  you  to  go  home  and  get  your  supper  and  report  down 
there  at  eight  o'clock. 

I  am  going  to  make  some  announcements — don't  get  in  a  hurry. 

"Quickened  are  they  who  touch  a  prophet's  bones."  We  have 
been  thus  quickened  this  afternoon.  I  am  old-fashioned  enough  to 
try  never  to  forget  that  deeper  than  all  these  high  reforms,  more 
fundamental  than  all  these  holy  helpfulnesses,  was  the  great  gift 
that  was  given  to  Theodore  Parker,  communion  with  the  Unseen. 
Louisa  Alcott  tells  how  she  went  to  listen,  perchance  to  criticise,  and 
how  she  stayed  to  pray ;  how  she  went  as  a  lonely  self-supporting 
woman  to  see  if  she  might  find  some  comfort  in  the  sermon  that 
was  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  self-supporting  women,  but  how 
her  soul  was  filled  and  satisfied  with  the  prayer  uttered  by  Theo- 
dore Parker,  and  she  didn't  need  the  sermon.  She  has  borne  this 
testimony  in  her  preface  to  a  beautiful  edition  of  Parker's  prayers. 

I  will  ask  my  friend  and  yoke-fellow  to  pronounce  the  bene- 
diction.    (Benediction  by  Dr.  Hirsch.) 


Bt  puis  Iniu^raaltBt  Olljurrlj  iM^^ttng 

Wrbnffibag  Stipmng,  Nntipmbfr  Ifi,  1010 


i'prakrrs 


1.     Isaac  Fisher  2.     p:d\vin  D.  Mead  3.     Rev.  Charles  W.  Wendte 

4.     Martha  Parker  Dingee  5.     Gertrude  Parker  Dingke 

6.     Rabbi  Charles  Fleischer        7.     Prof.  Geo.  B.  Foster 


ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING  111 


^t. PaulB  llttttr^rfialtBt  (!II|urrI| 


REV.  CHARLES  W.  WENDTE,  Presidine 


(Religious  Exercises  Conducted  by  Rev.  Lorenzo  D.  Case,  Pastor  of  the  Church) 


Mr.  Case:  Rev,  Charles  W.  Wendte,  president  of  the  Free 
ReHgious  Association,  will  now  take  charge  of  this  meeting.  It 
is  rather  interesting  to  note  that  once  Mr.  Wendte  was  pastor  of 
a  church  that  stood  on  the  site  of  this  present  church  in  the  long 
ago.  For  that  reason  additionally  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to 
introduce  Mr.  Wendte  to  this  congregatiion. 


Alibrf  BB  by  &ti.  (Hl^uvitB  W.  WmhU 


THEODORE  PARKER.  THE  MAN,  WITH  PERSONAL 
REMINISCENCES. 

My  dear  friends,  your  pastor  has  touched  a  chord  in  my  heart 
by  his  allusion  to  my  former  service  in  this  city,  to  which  I  return 
from  time  to  time  with  a  reminiscent  tenderness  of  spirit ;  for,  as 
he  says,  more  than  forty  years  ago  I  began  my  missionary  endeavor 
and  ministry  here  in  this  great  city,  founded  a  little  church,  which 
finally  felt  strong  enough  to  build  a  modest  chapel,  and  in  building 
it  much  of  my  own  hope  and  prayer  went  into  the  structure. 

On  Sundays  I  had  the  pleasure  of  standing  on  this  very  spot 
for  two  or  three  years.  The  accents  in  the  pulpit  may  have  been 
faltering  at  times,  but  at  least  I  know  they  were  always  sincere. 

But  your  climate, — which  I  see  the  morning  newspapers  uni- 
formly declare  to  be  the  most  perfect  in  America,  if  not  the  world, — 
your  climate  finally  drove  me  away,  other  ministers  came  and  went, 
.and  came  and  went,  and  at  last  the  little  church,  its  membership 
having  drifted  far  to  the  south,  stood  empty  and  desolate  until 
one  day  this  congregation  came,  tore  it  down  altogether  and  built 
m  its  place  this  splendid  temple. 

I  am  always  thankful  to  feel  when  I  come  back  to  Chicago, 
that  this  spot  is  still  dedicated  to  the  ideals  and  the  service  of 
liberal  Christianity.  We  have  received  a  noble  testimony  to  this 
in  the  invitation  of  this  congregation  to  the  committee  in  charge 
to  hold  one  of  its  sessions  in  this  temple,  in  celebrating  this  noble 
commemoration  in  honor  of  Theodore  Parker,  the  great  free-thinker 
and  religious  and  social  radical  of  his  day. 


112 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

I  have  been  chosen  to  preside  over  this  meeting,  to  make  the 
opening  address,  not  from  any  personal  quality  in  myself,  but  sim- 
ply as  representing  officially  the  oldest  and  earliest  of  the  liberal 
associations  of  the  United  States,  which  have  united  in  this  anni- 
versary celebration  in  Chicago,  the  Free  Religious  Association  of 
America. 

This  association,  it  may  interest  you  to  know,  was  formed 
forty-three  years  ago,  in  1867,  and  although  its  headquarters  have 
been  in  Boston,  it  is  really  a  national  organization  and  has  mem- 
bers and  officers  in  various  parts  of  the  Union. 

The  objects  of  the  association  are:  "To  engage  in  the  scientific 
study  of  religion  and  ethics ;  to  advocate  freedom  in  religion ;  to 
increase  fellowship  in  the  spirit ;  to  emphasize  the  supremacy  of 
practical  morality  in  all  the  relations  of  life,  and  to  encourage  the 
organization  of  local  societies  or  free  churches  on  the  basis  of  free, 
spiritual,  and  universal  religion." 

The  Free  Religious  Association  has  continued  to  hold  annual 
meetings  throughout  the  country,  has  published  interesting  tracts 
and  books  from  time  to  time,  and  has  offered  a  free  platform  to 
men  of  all  shades  of  belief  and  all  kinds  of  worship,  Christian,  and 
so-called  pagan,  Roman  Catholic — for  Roman  Catholic  Bishops 
have  been  heard  on  its  platform — and  Protestant,  and  all  varieties 
of  orthodoxy,  as  well  as  many  agnostics  and  unbelievers,  so-called, 
who  gave  their  testimony  as  their  reason  and  their  conscience  moved 
them,  and  were  always  accorded  a  free  platform  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  Spirit. 

Furthermore,  the  first  man  to  join  this  society,  to  put  his 
name  down  upon  the  roll  of  membership,  was  Ralph  Waldo  Emer- 
son, and  other  men  of  distinction  have  been  associated  with  it, 
and  have  served  as  president  of  the  association.  Among  them 
I  may  mention  Octavius  B.  Frothingham,  Felix  Adler,  William  J. 
Potter,  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  Lewis  G.  Janes  and  Edwin 
D.  Mead,  former  presidents;  Robert  Dale  Owen,  Lucretia  Mott, 
Lydia  Maria  Child,  Isaac  M.  Wise,  George  Wm.  Curtis,  Edward 
L.  Youmans,  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  Moncure  D.  Conway,  Frederick 
Douglass,  Francis  E.  Abbott,  William  M.  Salter,  Julia  Ward  Howe, 
Joseph  Le  Conte,  Stephen  S.  Wise  and  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  who, 
among  others  have  served  it  as  vice-presidents. 

These  are  some  of  the  names  that  have  been  connected  with 
the  association,  and  have  rendered  their  testimony  and  given  their 
service  for  the  furthering  of  its  aims. 

It  is  true  that  this  association  was  organized  largely  because 
of  a  certain  narrowness  in  the  Unitarian  Fellowship,  to  which 
many  of  its  members  belonged ;  yet  in  the  course  of  time  the 
animus  that  brought  about  that  action  has  practically  died  away. 
Its  membership  at  present  consists  largely  of  Unitarians  and  Uni- 
versalists,  though  by  no  means  is  limited  to  these  bodies. 


ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSAUST  CHURCH  MEETING  113 

And  so  it  is  very  much  in  keeping  that  our  association  should 
join  in  this  anniversary  celebration  of  Theodore  Parker,  and  should 
meet  in  this  Universalist  Christian  church. 

It  is  true  that  Theodore  Parker  was  no  longer  living  when 
this  association  was  formed,  but  it  may  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
products  of  his  earlier  testimony  for  freedom  and  progress  in 
religion,  for  the  rights  of  the  human  reason,  the  supreme  rights 
of  the  conscience  in  all  matters  concerning  the  ethical  relations 
of  man,  and  for  that  broader  fellowship  of  the  spirit  which  in- 
quires not  what  creed  or  what  religious  antecedents,  but  only, 
"What  is  the  spirit  that  animates  you,  my  brother?"  And  if  that 
spirit  be  one  of  reverence  and  aspiration,  one  of  love  for  human- 
ity, one  of  desire  for  light  from  heaven  upon  the  path  we  all  have 
to  tread  in  common,  then  all  such  are  welcome  to  full  freedom 
of  utterance  and  warmth  of  hospitality  on  the  platform  of  the 
Free  Religious  Association. 

I  am  to  speak  to  you  this  evening  concerning  Theodore  Parker, 
with  whom  in  the  earlier  years  of  my  life  I  was  privileged  to 
have  acquaintance,  and  in  whose  environment  I  grew  up  to  man- 
hood. 

It  is  fifty  years  ago  since  Theodore  Parker  died  in  Italy,  to 
whose  sunny  climate  he  had  been  exiled  with  the  fond  expectation 
that  it  would  restore  him  to  something  of  his  former  health,  and 
assure  an  early  resumption  of  his  duties  as  a  public  teacher  and 
social  reformer.  It  proved,  however,  to  be  too  late  for  such  re- 
covery. The  insidious  disease  to  which  nine  of  his  brothers  and 
sisters  before  him  had  fallen  victims  had  laid  its  hold  also  upon 
Theodore  Parker.  Although  his  constitution  was  naturally  robust, 
the  strenuous  labor  which  he  had  undergone  in  acquiring  an  edu- 
cation and  afterward  in  fulfilling  his  vocation  as  a  preacher  and  a 
reformer,  his  self-sacrificing  endeavors  for  the  social  welfare  of 
his  fellow-men — these  things,  aggravated  by  early  privations,  had 
made  too  great  inroads  upon  his  otherwise  robust  constitution. 

In  his  fiftieth  year  he  was  called  upon  to  leave  the  circle  of  his 
friends  and  the  larger  sphere  of  influence  which  he  had  created 
for  himself  in  American  life  and  American  religion,  to  enter  upon 
that  invisible  country,  that  higher  and  eternal  life  in  which  he 
believed  so  profoundly  himself,  and  which  he  had  tried  to  make 
more  real  to  his  fellow-men  by  cogent  argument  and  fervent  appeal. 

Theodore  Parker,  the  man  and  minister,  was  dead,  and  his 
emaciated  form  was  laid  away  in  the  little  Protestant  burying 
ground  which  rises  like  an  island  out  of  the  encircling  boulevards 
in  the  ancient  and  beautiful  city  of  Florence,  in  Italy;  but  Theo- 
dore Parker,  as  an  inspiring  and  ethical  force,  lives  today,  is  more 
than  ever  alive  in  the  institutions,  in  the  thoughts  and  aims  of  his 
beloved  America. 

The  great  preacher  spoke  prophetically  when  he  said  to  those 
around  him  on  his  deathbed:     "There  are  two  Theodore  Parkers; 


114 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

one  is  dying  here  in  Italy,  the  other  I  have  planted  in  America. 
He  will  live  there  and  continue  my  work." 

That  this  expectation  has  been  fulfilled  to  a  remarkable  de- 
gree in  the  social,  political  and  religious  development  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  during  the  past  half  century  is  the  belief 
of  those  who  are  best  acquainted  with  the  nature  and  scope  of  his 
influence  as  a  public  teacher  and  niolder  of  public  sentiment. 

Parker's  name  is  an  honored  one  in  the  American  common- 
wealth of  letters,  and  is  also  spoken  reverently  in  circles  which,  dur- 
ing his  life,  looked  upon  him  as  a  heretic,  as  an  unbeliever  and 
infidel,  and  a  disturber  of  the  peace. 

In  less  than  fifty  years  since  his  death  at  least  four  elaborate 
biographies  of  him  have  been  published,  together  with  innumer- 
able memoirs  and  contributions  in  the  English  language  and  sev- 
eral extended  lives  in  French,  German,  Dutch  and  other  idioms. 

His  writings  have  been  translated  into  many  modern  tongues 
and  into  the  vernaculars  of  Japan  and  India.  Memorial  halls  and 
monuments  have  been  reared  to  his  memory.  It  may  be  safely 
affirmed  that  he  is  the  American  theologian  best  known  to  the 
religious  world  in  Europe,  and  is  more  widely  influential  than  any 
other  in  molding  the  religious  life  of  European  nations. 

If  there  were  any  doubt  as  to  this  continued  influence  of  Theo- 
dore Parker  in  the  world  of  religion  and  ethical  endeavor,  it  should 
be  dispelled  by  the  universality  and  the  fervor  with  which  re- 
cently the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  his  birth  and  the  fiftieth 
of  his  death  have  been  celebrated,  not  only  in  scores  of  American 
cities,  but  in  European  and  Asiatic  communities  as  well. 

Philadelphia,  New  York  and  Boston  have  held  large  and  im- 
posing meetings.  At  his  birthplace,  Lexington,  at  West  Roxbury 
and  Watertown,  the  scenes  of  his  earlier  ministry,  in  London  and 
Paris,  in  Basle,  in  Copenhagen,  Christiania  and  Budapest,  in  Cal- 
cutta and  Tokyo — everywhere,  have  been  held  special  services  in 
memory  of  Theodore  Parker. 

Tell  me,  is  there  any  other  theologian,  is  there  any  ethical 
teacher,  is  there  any  social  reformer  who  has  lived  in  America 
during  the  past  two  hundred  years  to  whom  such  general  tribute 
has  been  paid? 

The  last  of  these  European  memorial  services  I  had  the  great 
privilege  of  attending  and  conducting  myself.  It  was  on  the  re- 
turn of  the  American  pilgrims  from  the  Berlin  International  Con- 
gress of  Free  Christian  and  Religious  Liberals.  On  their  journey 
back  to  America  they  visited  the  city  of  Florence.  On  a  summer 
afternoon  we  stood  in  the  cemetery  where  Theodore  Parker's  re- 
mains were  laid  away,  and  there,  under  the  blue  heavens,  the 
sun  setting  brilliantly  in  the  west  and  the  birds  choiring  their  hymns 
in  the  leafy  trees  above ;  there  by  the  simple  little  tomb,  just  as 
he  would  have  loved  it  himself,  there  we  held  our  vesper  service 
in  his  sacred  memory.  One  American  clergyman,  a  young  man,  a 
follower   of    the    great    American   preacher,    read    from    Parker's 


ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING  115 

writings.  We  intoned  one  of  his  most  beautiful  hymns.  Then,  one 
after  another,  friends  brought  their  tributes,  one  a  member  of 
the  Society  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj,  who  had  come  all  the  way  from 
India  to  bear  his  testimony.  Also,  an  Italian  brought  up  in  the 
Catholic  church,  and  other  friends  from  America  and  from  Eng- 
land. And  so,  laying  our  memorial  wreaths  upon  his  grave,  we 
left  him  to  rest  in  the  evening  sunshine,  in  the  bosom  of  nature 
and  in  the  all-embracing  love  of  God. 

This  naturally  seemed  to  me  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the 
Parker  celebrations  that  have  occurred  during  the  past  year. 

And  now  Chicago  comes  to  add  its  tribute,  the  last,  and,  in 
some  respects,  the  most  beautiful  of  all.  Thanks  to  the  indomitable 
energy  of  our  friend,  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  and  the  earnest  and  true 
men  and  women  assisting  him,  we  are  having  a  series  of  meetings 
here  which  will  go  down  in  the  religious  history  of  America  as  a 
deserving  and  noble  tribute  to  this  great  teacher  and  reformer, 
fifty  years  after  his  death. 

Perhaps  the  most  admirable  single  contribution  to  his  memory 
is  the  new  edition  of  Theodore  Parker's  writings,  which  has  just 
been  published.  We  call  it  the  Centennial  Edition,  and  it  appears 
in  fourteen  handsome  volumes.  Oh,  how  that  would  have  de- 
lighted— does  delight — his  heart!  Theodore  Parker's  writings  have 
gone  through  various  vicissitudes.  I  discovered  some  time  ago 
that  the  English  edition,  edited  by  his  friend,  Francis  Power  Cobbe, 
was  no  longer  obtainable ;  the  plates  had  been  melted  down  in  a 
great  conflagration.  The  American  edition,  always  imperfect,  was 
also  out  of  print.  So  I  went  to  a  wealthy  man  in  Boston,  who  had 
been  brought  up  under  Theodore  Parker's  teaching  and  influence, 
and  told  him  the  story,  and  asked  him  for  a  gift  of  $11,000  with 
which  to  issue  in  a  complete  edition  in  this  centennial  year  the 
writings  of  Theodore  Parker.  Mr.  John  C.  Haynes — for  that  was 
his  name — cheerfully  gave  the  money,  and,  although  he  did  not 
have  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  issue  of  these  volumes  before 
his  death,  we  should  correlate  his  name  with  such  a  celebration  as 
this,  that  he  may  bear  his  just  meed  of  praise  for  the  great  service 
he  has  rendered  Theodore  Parker  and  us  all,  enabling  us  to  publish 
for  a  dollar  a  volume  ($10  for  the  fourteen  volumes)  this  beautiful 
edition  of  his  writings,  and  place  them  where  they  can  always  be 
obtained  by  those  who  desire  to  come  into  spiritual  touch  with 
his  master  mind. 

Yet  it  is  not  Theodore  Parker's  writings,  it  is  not  his  opinions 
on  any  given  subject,  it  is  not  the  things  which  he  said  or  for 
which  he  strove,  that  were  most  important  in  his  career,  or  have 
exercised  or  will  continue  to  exercise  the  largest  influence.  Greater 
than  all  his  books  or  his  doings  was  the  man  himself.  His  char- 
acter, his  life,  the  example  he  gives  us  of  a  noble,  independent, 
consecrated,  unselfish  manhood,  is  the  best  contribution  he  has 
made  to  the  great  problems  to  which  he  gave  his  thought  and  his 
life.    Therefore,  in  asking  myself  what  I  should  speak  to  you  about 


116 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

this  evening,  I  thought  it  would  be  well  to  tell  you  something  of 
Theodore  Parker's  life,  for,  since  he  passed  away,  two  generations 
have  come  into  being,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  a  great  many 
who  are  not  entirely  unfamiliar  with  his  name,  and  even  have 
some  acquaintance  with  his  writings,  nevertheless  have  little  actual 
knowledge  of  the  facts  of  his  life.  While  I  may  say  some  things 
that  are  perfectly  familiar  to  you,  and  repeat  things  which  others 
have  been  saying  during  the  past  week,  I  think  it  is  well  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  Theodore  Parker's 
life  to  dwell  briefly  on  the  prominent  incidents  of  his  career  and 
the  traits  of  his  character.  I  do  this  all  the  more  willingly  be- 
cause it  was  my  privilege  as  a  young  man  to  have  been  brought 
up  under  his  influence.  My  mother  was  a  member  of  his  congre- 
gation, and  while  when  he  died  I  was  in  my  sixteenth  year,  I  have 
many  pleasant  remembrances  of  him  as  he  came  to  our  house,  or 
as  I  accompanied  my  mother,  perhaps,  to  his  house ;  for  she  was 
his  German  teacher  and  went  to  read  German  with  him  once  a 
week  for  a  number  of  years.  I  also  heard  him  at  times  on  Sundays 
in  the  Music  Hall  in  Boston  delivering  those  noble  discourses  on 
religion  and  life  and  the  great  social  and  political  questions  of  the 
time  which  drew  such  wonderful  audiences  and  had  such  great 
influence  in  his  day  and  generation. 

For  some  years,  when  I  was  a  boy,  my  favorite  playground 
was  in  front  of  his  house,  which  was  in  Exeter  place  in  Boston, 
one  end  of  which  was  closed ;  and  there,  free  from  all  traffic  dis- 
turbances, the  children  were  wont  to  gather.  Parker  had  no  chil- 
dren of  his  own,  but  loved  young  people  dearly.  He  came  down 
from  his  study  sometimes  and  looked  on  and  enjoyed  our  romping 
and  playing,  and  sometimes  he  would  tap  me  gently  on  the  head 
and  send  a  pleasant  message  to  my  mother,  or  make  some  kind 
inquiry. 

How  little  he  knew  in  those  days,  and  far  less  the  boy  who 
looked  up  at  him  with  wondering  and  affectionate  eyes,  that  in 
bestowing  upon  him  this  little  human  touch  of  kindness  he  was  in 
reality  conferring  upon  him  the  apostolic  succession ;  for,  many 
years  after,  I  had  the  privilege  of  being  his  remote  successor 
in  the  pulpit  of  the  Theodore  Parker  Memorial  Church  in  Boston. 
I  have  often  said  to  myself  that  I  would  rather  have  had  that 
benediction  from  his  hand  and  that  consecration  to  the  ministry,  than 
to  have  received  the  apostolic  succession  from  the  Holy  Father  at 
Rome  himself. 

To  speak,  then,  more  or  less  briefly  concerning  Theodore 
Parker,  let  me  remind  you  that  he  was  born  in  1810,  on  the  24th 
of  August,  the  last  of  eleven  children,  in  Lexington,  Massachu- 
setts, where  his  father  was  a  wheelwright  and  pumpmaker  and 
farmer,  working  upon  the  farm  that  had  been  in  the  family  for 
many  generations. 

The  father  was  a  sturdy,  upright  man  of  great  sense  and 
integrity,  a  member  of  the  Congregational   church,  but  a  man  of 


ST.  PAUL'S  VNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING  117 

liberal  views.  His  mother  was  a  woman  of  rare  sweetness  of 
nature  and  of  profoundly  religious  spirit.  From  her  he  seems  to 
have  received  his  affectionate  and  spiritual  nature  in  great  de- 
gree, and  he  remained  deeply  attached  to  her  and  to  her  memory  as 
long  as  he  lived. 

He  came  of  noble  stock ;  his  grandfather,  Captain  John  Parker, 
commanded  the  American  militiamen  at  the  battle  of  Lexington, 
as  that  early  skirmish  of  the  War  of  Independence  was  called.  As 
the  red  coats  advanced  he  drew  up  the  feeble  line  of  his  militia- 
men and  uttered  that  word  which  has  come  down  the  corridors 
of  time  as  a  word  of  profound  significance  to  American  hearts : 
"Don't  fire  unless  fired  upon ;  but  if  they  want  a  war,  let  it  begin 
here." 

A  few  moments  later  a  volley  rang  forth,  which  stretched  many 
of  his  company  on  the  green  sward  in  suffering  and  the  agonies  of 
death,  and  that  responsive  shot  was  fired  of  which  the  poet  tells  us : 

"There  the  embattled  farmers  stood 

And   fired   the   shot   heard    'round    the   world." 

Theodore  Parker  was  justly  proud  of  such  an  ancestry,  and 
over  the  mantelpiece  in  his  study  for  years  hung  the  arm  which 
his  grandfather  carried  in  that  memorable  fight,  together  with 
another — a  King's  arm — which  he  had  taken  from  a  British  soldier. 
When  he  died  he  bequeathed  to  the  commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts this  family  treasure.  Governor  Andrews  received  it,  with 
much  effusion,  at  the  State  House  on  Beacon  Hill,  and  today  we 
see  it  hanging  in  the  Senate  chamber  as  a  trophy,  a  memorial  of 
the  time  that  tried  men's  souls  in  the  early  days  of  republican  in- 
stitutions in  this  country. 

Theodore  Parker  was  a  self-educated  man  in  every  sense  of 
the  word.  He  enjoyed  little  schooling;  very  probably  not  as  much 
as  you  would  get  from  a  high  school  in  the  country  today.  He 
also  desired  to  enter  Harvard  College,  but  his  father  said  it  was 
impossible ;  he  had  not  the  means  to  keep  him  there,  and  needed  his 
son's  labor  besides.  So  Theodore  Parker  cheerfully  went  to  his 
father's  aid,  daily  worked  in  the  fields  or  in  the  shop,  and  in  such 
leisure  hours  as  were  granted  him  studied  hard,  taking  all  the 
examinations  of  the  class  which  he  had  formally  entered  at  Har- 
vard. At  the  end  of  three  years  he  triumphantly  passed  all  the 
college  examinations,  but  was  too  poor  to  pay  for  the  graduation 
diploma,  and  so  did  not  obtain  it.  In  later  years  Harvard  College 
honored  itself  and  him  by  conferring  upon  him  the  degree  of 
Master  of  Arts. 

He  next  became  a  school  teacher  in  various  towns,  Boston, 
Watertown  and  elsewhere,  and  toiled  at  this  vocation  six  or  eight 
hours  a  day,  and  perhaps  spent  eight  or  nine  hours  more  in  study. 
It  was  a  very  wrong  thing  for  him  to  do,  to  wear  himself  out 
thus  in  his  early  youth,  and  his  naturally  robust  constitution  was 
no  doubt  impaired  by  it.     There  is  existent  a  pathetic  epistle  in 


118 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

which  he  tells  us  how  little  he  knew  about  the  care  of  the  body; 
he  tried  to  live  on  bread  and  water  for  whole  weeks  in  order  to 
raise  money  with  which  to  buy  books,  or  to  enter  the  theological 
school ;  and  so  it  went  on  more  or  less  for  years.  He  mastered  an 
astonishing  amount  of  information,  but  his  physique  was  much 
undermined  by  his  experience. 

In  the  year  1833  he  entered  the  Divinity  School  at  Harvard, 
and  there  took  the  regular  course,  having  saved  some  money  by 
teaching.  When  he  graduated  from  the  school,  with  the  same 
courage  he  always  manifested,  he  married  the  woman  of  his  choice, 
Lydia  Cabot,  and  shortly  after,  in  1837,  was  called  to  his  first 
church,  the  old  parish  in  West  Roxbury,  a  suburb  where  many 
Boston  people  made  their  summer  homes.  For  the  most  part  his 
people  consisted  of  farmers  and  dairymen,  and  it  shows  the  kind 
of  stuff  he  was  made  of  that  he  preached  the  very  first  year  to 
these  a  sermon  on  "The  Besetting  Sins  of  Dairymen."  He  cer- 
tainly had  the  courage  of  his  convictions ! 

But  a  great  transformation  was  taking  place  in  the  community ; 
the  philosophy  of  Transcendentalism  had  taken  possession  of  many 
of  the  most  earnest  minds  of  New  England.  I  will  not  undertake 
to  define  it,  except  to  say  that  it  interpreted  the  things  of  heaven 
and  earth  in  terms  of  the  spirit,  instead  of  external  authority.  And 
Theodore  Parker  felt  the  uplift  of  this  new  philosophy. 

In  the  year  1838  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  preached  his  Divinity 
School  address  in  which  the  transcendental  philosophy  found  its 
first  adequate  expression.  Theodore  Parker  was  there  to  hear  it ; 
he  walked  all  the  way  back  from  Cambridge  to  West  Roxbury 
that  night,  and,  before  he  went  to  bed,  entered  in  one  of  his  jour- 
nals (which  he  kept  for  years,  comprising  great  volumes  of  which 
very  little  has  been  published  as  yet)  his  feelings  over  that  ad- 
dress. It  spoke  to  his  highest  nobility  and  was  a  rousing  appeal 
to  his  conscience. 

Parker  sought  for  an  opportunity  to  bear  his  testimony.  But 
it  took  some  time.  In  1841  he  was  called  to  South  Boston  to  preach 
the  sermon  at  the  ordination  of  a  friend,  and  there  Parker  preached 
a  discourse  perhaps  the  second  in  significance  of  any  ever  preached 
in  New  England,  his  sermon  on  "The  Pennanent  and  Transient  in 
Christianity."  He  showed  that  many  things  in  religion  are  tran- 
sient, but  other  things  endure.  His  statements  seem  very  simple 
and  self-evident  now  to  us.  I  remember  a  Presbyterian  elder  asking 
me  if  I  could  obtain  copies  of  this  sermon  for  him ;  he  wished  to 
distribute  them  among  his  congregation  at  home,  feeling  that 
it  so  admirably  expressed  the  opinions  of  that  society ;  but  in  Theo- 
dore Parker's  day  it  was  rank  heresy  to  question  the  permanence 
of  any  doctrine  or  sacrament.  It  is  astonishing  what  a  commotion 
his  sermon  created.  Even  the  Unitarians,  who  claimed  to  be  on 
a  free  platform,  refused  him  their  countenance,  they  passed  him 
without  recognition  on  the  street,  and  some  who  had  promised  to 
exchange  pulpits  with  him  withdrew  their  offers — with  one  noble 


ST.  PAULS  UNIVERSAL! ST  CHURCH  MEETING  119 

exception,  James  Freeman  Clarke.  The  latter  had  an  exchange 
pending  with  Theodore  Parker,  and  when  his  congregation  ob- 
jected, and  many  threatened  to  withdraw,  he  said,  "I  have  given 
my  promise,"  and  he  carried  out  the  exchange.  Many  of  his  con- 
gregation did  withdraw,  but  among  those  who  endorsed  his  spirit 
and  remained  with  him  was  Governor  Andrew  and  Dr.  S.  G. 
Howe,  and  his  church  went  on  as  before. 

Then  the  Boston  Ministerial  Association  took  the  matter  in 
hand.  They  had  an  institution.  The  Thursday  Lecture,  at  which 
annually  a  collection  was  taken  for  the  poor  of  Boston,  and  when 
it  came  Theodore  Parker's  turn  to  preach,  in  order  to  prevent  his 
obtaining  a  hearing  and  to  avoid  trouble,  they  abolished  the  time- 
honored  and  revered  Thursday  Lecture  altogether! 

Then  the  Boston  Association,  against  whom  he  had  written 
some  very  earnest  and  searching  public  letters  which  they  could 
not  quite  forgive  or  forget,  summoned  him  for  trial.  I  have  just 
been  engaged  in  editing  these  letters,  and  another  one  in  which 
he  called  upon  the  American  Unitarian  Association  to  define  itself, 
as  part  of  the  last  volume  of  his  works  which  are  being  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Unitarian  Association.  This  Boston  Asso- 
ciation which  sought  to  have  him  withdraw  or  be  expelled,  still 
exists,  and  they  actually  held  a  meeting  two  or  three  weeks  ago 
in  memory  of  Theodore  Parker!  It  shows  how  time  brings  about 
its   revenges. 

Then  they  summoned  him  before  a  Ministerial  Association 
and  brought  him  up  for  trial.  He  came,  primed  for  defense,  and 
answered  them  sturdily.  But  when  two  or  three  of  these  ministers, 
whom  he  had  always  honored  and  loved,  but  who  were  strongly 
opposed  to  his  opinions  and  utterances,  got  up  and  bore  testimony 
concerning  his  personal  character  and  spoke  appreciatively  and 
gently  about  him,  that  was  more  than  he  could  stand ;  he  burst 
into,  tears,  hid  his  face  in  his  hands  and  ran  out  of  the  meeting, 
leaving  behind  him  a  roomful  of  excited  and  deeply  moved  clergy- 
men. Soon  after  the  association  adjourned,  and  that  was  the  end 
of  the  only  heresy  trial  that  the  Unitarians  have  ever  attempted 
to  hold. 

Then  came  the  reaction  from  these  displays  of  intolerance. 
A  little  band  of  men  in  Boston  who  loved  the  courage  and  straight- 
forwardness exhibited  by  Theodore  Parker  and  wanted  such  a 
man  for  their  minister,  summoned  him  to  Boston  to  begin  a  con- 
gregation there. 

He  came  to  Boston,  and  first  in  the  Melodeon,  afterward  in 
the  larger  Boston  Music  Hall,  which  held  twenty-five  hundred 
people,  held  Sunday  services.  For  seventeen  years  he  preached 
in  the  Boston  Music  Hall  before  what  was  then  the  largest  con- 
gregation in  the  United  States.  Hie  had  seven  thousand  names 
on  his  parish  list.  The  hall  seated  about  twenty-five  hundred  people 
and  was  usually  well  filled,  and  sometimes  densely  crowded. 


120 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

He  was  a  minister,  too,  who  attended  to  his  parish  duties  in  a 
surprisingly  devoted  manner,  going  from  house  to  house  to  call 
upon  his  parishioners.  Of  course,  he  did  not  escape  criticism,  but 
was  bitterly  assailed  by  the  orthodox,  the  conservative,  the  timid, 
and  the  unscrupulous  of  his  day.  Only  a  few  years  ago  a  Boston 
clerg>Tnan  said  that  Theodore  Parker  was  "a  wild  man  preaching 
to  wild  people."  Let  us  see  who  some  of  these  "wild  people"  were 
to  whom  he  preached.  For  instance,  Miss  Hannah  Stevenson,  a 
woman  of  rare  culture  and  character ;  the  Goddard  sisters,  who 
went  about  doing  good  and  were  blessed  by  the  poor  and  unhappy 
in  Boston — "Saints  Matilda  and  Lucy"  Parker  called  them ;  then 
Bronson  Alcott,  the  aged  philosopher,  and  his  gifted  daughter 
Louisa  Alcott,  who  found  in  his  sermons  her  religious  inspiration ; 
Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe;  Elizabeth  Peabody,  the  author  of  the 
kindergarten  system  in  this  country ;  Horace  Mann,  the  great  pub- 
lic school  reformer,  whose  statue  stands  before  the  State  House  m 
Boston ;  William  Lloyd  Garrison ;  Mrs.  Carolina  H.  Dall,  who  did 
so  much  for  her  sex  in  earlier  days,  and  still,  in  her  old  age,  para- 
lyzed and  bedridden,  lifts  up  her  voice  in  grateful  testimony  to 
Parker ;  Charles  Slack,  editor  of  The  Commonwealth ;  Charles  Sum- 
ner also  was  a  warm  friend  and  occasional  hearer;  Frank  B.  San- 
born ;  Mrs.  Ednah  Cheney ;  members  of  the  May,  Apthrop,  Jack- 
son and  Shaw  families,  the  "blue  blood"  of  New  England.  In 
front  of  the  .State  House  in  Boston  there  is  a  bronze  relief  setting 
forth  the  charge  of  the  black  troops  with  their  young  leader, 
Colonel  Shaw,  at  Fort  Wagner ;  they  marched  to  terrible  defeat, 
but  the  spirit  of  victory,  in  this  representation,  leads  them  on ;  and 
justly,  for  their  defeat  was  their  glory,  and  their  failure  was  their 
eternal  exaltation  to  a  high  place  in  American  history.  Colonel 
Shaw  was  one  of  Theodore  Parker's  Sunday  School  boys.  Wendell 
Phillips  often  took  his  place  in  the  pulpit.  Besides  these  there  was 
a  great  mass  of  plain  people,  whose  hard  sense  and  independence 
Parker  delighted  in,  and  who  found  in  him  their  religious  oracle 
and  teacher.  These  were  some  of  the  "wild  people"  whom  this 
'wild  man"  preached  to  on  Sundays. 

What  was  it  that  filled  the  Music  Hall  Sunday  after  Sunday? 
Nothing  sensational  whatever,  either  in  his  utterances  or  in  his 
delivery.  He  was  a  very  quiet  preacher,  always  reading  his  ser- 
mons from  manuscript ;  he  made  very  few  gestures ;  he  never  made 
concessions  in  his  style.  It  was  the  matter  of  his  sermons,  rather 
than  the  manner  of  the  preacher.  Into  them  he  poured  the  treas- 
ures of  his  learning,  his  rich  imagination,  his  close  reasoning  and 
his  high  ethical  purpose  and  his  spiritual  fervor.  He  preached 
always  from  the  standpoint  of  religion,  even  on  public  affairs. 

It  has  been  said  that  four-fifths  of  the  sermons  of  Theodore 
Parker  were  on  religious  topics,  dealing  with  the  great  problems 
of  life,  death  and  eternity ;  but,  after  all,  the  real  power,  aside  from 
his  perfect  sincerity  and  freedom  and  fearlessness — the  real  power 
of  the  man  lay  in  his  intense  religiousness. 


ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING  121 

Theodore  Parker  seems  to  me  to  have  been  the  most  religious 
man  of  his  day  and  generation.  He  believed  in  God  with  an  in- 
tensity which  never  faltered ;  he  believed  in  God  as  he  believed  in 
his  own  life,  and  felt  himself  to  be  charged  with  a  message  from 
God  to  the  people.  Woe  be  unto  him,  how  straightened  was  his 
spirit  until  he  should  be  delivered  of  that  message,  should  pour 
cut  his  soul  in  testimony  of  the  great  truths  which  God  had  com- 
manded him  to  deliver  to  his  time  and  generation ;  the  truth  about 
God's  willing  and  working  in  this  world ;  truths  concerning  the 
social  and  moral  order.  On  these  subjects  he  spoke  like  a  prophet 
of  God,  and  the  people  were  swept  away  by  the  beauty  of  his 
rhetoric   and   the   splendor  of   his   appeal. 

One  of  our  speakers  said  a  few  days  ago  that  the  first  book 
Theodore  Parker  ever  bought  was  a  Latin  dictionary,  and  that  he 
sought  through  the  dictionaries  to  find  words  fit  for  his  use.  But 
this  was  not  so ;  his  style  was  of  the  simplest.  John  W.  Chadwick, 
his  biographer,  has  analyzed  his  language  and  finds  that  ninety-five 
per  cent  of  the  words  he  used  are  Anglo-Saxon  words.  It  was  that 
which  gave  him  such  command  over  the  plain  people. 

He  was  a  great  scholar;  the  greatest  scholar  of  his  day  and 
generation.  He  understood  twenty  languages  and  was  familiar 
with  their  literary  products ;  he  had  an  iron  memory  which  held 
everything  that  he  had  read.  He  could  tell  you,  years  after,  where 
to  find  some  passage  in  certain  early  Christian  Fathers ;  he  could 
tell  you  the  very  volumes  they  were  to  be  found  in.  He  collected 
a  library  of  thirteen  thousand  books,  certainly  the  largest  clerical 
library  in  Massachusetts,  if  not  the  largest  private  library  at  that 
time  in  America.  As  a  public  lecturer  he  increased  his  influence 
over  the  general  public,  but  it  also  wore  upon  his  strength  to  be 
going  about  four  or  five  months  of  the  year  lecturing,  often  finding 
poor  fare  and  accommodations.  All  the  money  he  gained  in  that 
way  he  put  into  his  library. 

His  library,  at  his  death,  he  gave  to  the  city  of  Boston. 

Of  Theodore  Parker  as  a  reformer  I  will  not  speak;  that 
subject  has  been  treated  over  and  over  again.  He  pleaded  for 
woman's  emancipation,  for  temperance,  for  universal  peace,  and 
especially  for  anti-slavery.  His  house  was  a  station  of  the  under- 
ground railway,  and  sometimes  he  pressed  weapons  into  the  hands 
of  fugitive  slaves  and  said,  "Use  these  for  your  safety." 

I  cannot  go  on  and  tell  you  the  story  of  his  wonderful  career 
as  a  social  reformer — it  would  take  a  whole  session.  Of  his  un- 
limited activity  in  every  department  of  social  reform,  private  benevo- 
lence and  heroic  endeavor  others  have  spoken  fully  at  these 
meetings. 

He  was  sent  ofif  to  Europe  in  the  year  1859  in  the  hope  that 
he  might  gradually  recover  some  measure  of  his  former  strength 
and  return  to  his  large  sphere  of  usefulness  in  America.  It  proved 
a  vain  expectation.  You  know  how,  in  1860,  on  the  10th  of  May, 
in  the  city  of  Florence,  Italy,  the  end  came.     His   faithful   wife 


122 THEODORE  PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

was  with  him  to  smooth  the  pillow  of  his  distress,  and  also  Francis 
Power  Cobbe,  the  great  English  ethical  writer,  who  afterwards 
published  his  works.  He  had  long  been  in  correspondence  with 
him  and  was  brought  back  to  rational  theism  through  his  writings, 
but  had  never  seen  him  until  just  before  he  died.  Tenderly,  bravely 
and  trustfully,  as  he  had  lived,  Parker  died,  and  was  laid  away  in 
the  Protestant  cemetery  of  Florence. 

My  friends,  I  would  like  to  take  more  time  to  tell  you  of  the 
interesting  Sunday  night  meetings  at  his  house,  and  other  things 
that  took  place,  but  I  must  remember  that  others  are  to  speak  this 
evening,  and  that  we  must  listen  to  their  testimony  also. 

It  is  well  for  us,  friends,  to  remember  and  treasure  these 
heroes  of  the  Spirit,  these  religious  ancestors  of  ours  through  whose 
devotion,  through  whose  heroic  testimony,  we  have  won  our  re- 
ligious freedom,  and  been  placed  in  the  line  of  spiritual  progress. 

"*     *     *     So  let  the  light 

Shine  on  their  deeds  of  love 
Which  shamed  the  light  of  all  but  Heaven, 
And  in  the  Book  of  Fame  the  glorious  record  of  their  virtues  write, 
And  hold  it  up  to  men,  and  bid  them  claim 
A  fame  like  theirs,  and  catch  from  them  the  hallowed  flame." 


Before  taking  my  seat,  let  me  say  that  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting movements  in  the  religious  life  of  our  time  is  that  which  is 
known  as  "Modernism,"  a  phase  of  religious  development  which 
has  arisen  from  the  larger  influence  of  physical  science,  the  closer 
study  of  comparative  religion,  and  the  whole  drift  and  tendency 
of  democratic  institutions  in  our  day,  and  which  not  only  agitates 
the  Roman  Catholic,  the  mother  church,  but  also,  I  think,  has  done 
its  work  in  many  of  our  Protestant  communities. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  and  privilege  to  have  on  this  platform 
this  evening,  to  participate  in  these  anniversary  exercises,  a  young 
man  who  has  espoused  the  cause  of  religious  growth  and  freedom, 
one  who  has  made  sacrifices  which  have  darkened  for  a  time  his 
spirit  and  have  wrenched  his  afifections,  one  whose  adherence  to 
duty  and  devotion  to  truth,  righteousness  and  sincerity  have  brought 
him  out  of  the  depths,  so  that  today  he  stands  on  an  independent 
platform  and  seeks  the  larger  light,  the  larger  leading  of  the  Spirit 
of  God. 

He  is  to  speak  to  us  tonight  on  the  contribution  which  Liberal- 
ism can  make  to  the  Modernist  movement,  and  presumably  what 
Modernism  can  contribute  to  Liberalism.  I  take  great  pleasure  in 
introducing  to  you  the  Rev.  William  Sullivan  of  Kansas  City. 


ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING  \23 

Kansas  City,  Missouri 


THE  SPIRITUAL  MESSAGE  OF  LIBERALISM  TO 
MODERNISM. 

Every  congress  of  liberal  religion  that  has  been  held  in  these 
latter  years  has  given  sympathetic  consideration  to  those  Modern- 
ists who  are  struggling  within  the  communion  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic church  for  spiritual  liberty  and  intellectual  emancipation.  For 
the  liberal  faith  has  recognized  a  kinship  with  this  movement,  as 
it  recognizes  kinship  with  all  movements  that  are  truth-seeking  and 
God-seeking.  It  is  true  that  Modernism  as  a  whole  has  made  no 
formal  advances  to  liberal  Christianity;  and,  indeed,  some  Modern- 
ists have  endeavored  to  show  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  insuf- 
ficiency of  this  freer  form  of  faith,  and  have  said  that  they  can  have 
no  organic  relations  with  it  whatsoever.  But  it  is  the  glory  of 
liberal  religion  that  it  conceives  the  bond  of  brotherhood  to  con- 
sist, not  in  agreement  as  to  any  system  of  consecrated  conjecture 
concerning  the  Inscrutable,  but  in  the  indestructible  oneness  of 
high  aspiration,  of  pure  sympathy,  and  of  common  endeavor  for 
the  divine  ideals  of  the  soul.  The  liberal  fraternity  of  worshipers 
asks  only  if  these  Modernists  are  workers  for  sincerity  and  serv- 
ants of  truth.  Finding  that  they  are,  it  scorns  all  differences  aris- 
ing from  formularies,  creeds  and  theories,  and  proffers  the  hand  of 
fellowship,  and  speaks  the  word  of  good  cheer  and  God-speed. 

That  you  members  of  the  liberal  churches  are  right  in  esteem- 
ing Modernists  as  genuinely  truth-seeking  and  God-seeking  I  do 
not  need  to  prove.  If  proof  were  required,  I  should  give  it  in  one 
brief  but  conclusive  word;  for  both  truth  and  God  these  Modern- 
ists have  suffered  and  are  suffering.  This  is  enough ;  for  to  suffer 
for  a  cause  is  the  supreme  evidence  of  devotion  to  it.  To  mention 
but  an  instance  or  two :  Last  spring  one  of  the  most  brilliant  priests 
of  France,  expelled  from  his  order  for  Modernist  views,  was  found 
dying  in  wretched  lodgings  in  Paris ;  dying  of  neglect,  and  pos- 
sibly of  starvation.  And  a  year  ago  Father  Tyrrell,  though  he 
died  canonically  in  the  communion  of  his  church,  was  refused  what 
is  called  Christian  burial,  and  had  to  receive  from  the  Anglicans 
from  whom  he  had  gone  out  in  his  youth  the  sorrowful  hospitality 
of  an  alien  grave.  You  have  sympathized  with  many  high  causes, 
you  followers  of  free  religion,  but  I  dare  to  say  that  never  have 
you  bestowed  your  sympathy  on  any  cause  that  deserves  it  better 
than  this  noble  and  fundamentally  spiritual  reform  of  Modernism. 

However,  I  wish  this  evening  to  speak  to  you  of  a  service 
done  to  Modernism  by  liberal  religion — greater  than  that  of  the 
mere  expression  of  good  will.  I  wish  to  point  out  to  you  that 
Liberalism  has  a  message  for  Modernism,  an  appeal  to  the  soul  of 
it,  an  inspiring  challenge  to  it  that  it  realize  a  higher  mission  than 


124 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

any  it  has  yet  achieved.  And  to  understand  what  I  mean  by  this, 
I  beg  you  to  look  for  a  moment  on  the  situation  of  Modernists. 

In  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  was  a  re- 
birth, a  very  efflorescence,  of  Catholic  scholarship.  In  answer  to  the 
reproach  of  the  age  that  Catholicism  had  no  rational  standing  in 
democracy,  and  that  its  foundations  had  been  destroyed  by  criticism, 
there  arose  a  group  of  young  and  ardent  scholars  to  refute  that 
charge  and  to  prove  that  the  ancient  church  could  and  would  make 
all  needed  adaptations,  and  vindicate  for  itself  in  the  face  of  what- 
ever social  progress,  whatever  advance  of  science,  a  pre-eminent 
position  in  the  religious  life  of  men.  Men  like  Loisy  and  ]\Iinocchi 
gave  themselves  to  the  study  of  Scripture  in  order,  as  it  were,  to 
Catholicize  that  department  of  learning.  Dabry,  Naudet,  Marc 
Sangnier  and  Romolo  Murri  took  up  social  studies  in  order  to 
win  for  modern  democracy  the  benediction  of  the  church.  Blondel, 
Laterthouniere  and  Tyrrell  dedicated  themselves  to  religious 
philosophy  to  prove  that  the  thought  of  the  church  is  not  closed 
in  by  mediaeval  formulas  and  scholastic  systems.  And,  under  the 
inspiration  of  these  names,  a  host  of  young  men  in  schools  and 
universities  the  world  over,  devoted  themselves  with  high  hopes 
and  brilliant  minds  to  the  same  great  task  of  reconciling  not  only 
the  church  to  the  age,  but  the  age  to  the  church.  It  was  a  new 
apostolate ;  it  was  a  divine  cause ;  and  never  did  any  cause  call 
forth  a  more  unselfish  service,  a  more  pure  and  zealous  conse- 
cration. 

Such  was  the  situation  when,  in  the  summer  of  1903,  the  pres- 
ent sovereign  pontifif  came  to  the  chair  which  is  called  of  Peter. 
At  once  the  sky  was  ablaze  with  the  lightnings  of  anathema.  Every 
weapon  in  the  arsenal  of  ecclesiastical  authority  was  brought  to 
bear  against  the  scholars  and  reformers  who  had  dared  to  cherish 
so  divine  a  dream.  "There  can  be  no  adaptation  to  modern  needs, 
no  modification  of  the  old  traditions,"  said  the  pope,  "and  every 
man  that  speaks  for  adaptation  and  modification  shall  be  destroyed." 
Professors  were  deposed,  priests  were  suspended,  the  reading  of 
modern  books  was  forbidden,  and  in  every  diocese  it  was  ordered 
that  a  "vigilance  committee" — a  euphemism  for  a  hideous  and  intol- 
erable system  of  espionage  and  inquisitorial  delation — should  find 
out  what  priests  were  reading,  thinking  and  writing,  and  denounce 
such  as  were  infected  with  modern  thought.  And  to  choke  every 
voice  of  remonstrance  it  was  decreed  that  all  who  should  gainsay 
this  terrific  proscription  of  reason  and  servitude  of  conscience 
should  be  ipso  facto  excommunicated. 

Not  to  protract  the  mournful  story,  let  me  simply  say  that  to- 
day every  one  of  those  brilliant  leaders  of  the  new  movement  lies 
prostrate  beneath  papal  condenmation,  and  that  the  young  disciples 
who  pressed  forward  to  follow  them  are  beaten  down  and  their 
hope  has  become  despair.  So  far  as  it  represented  a  reformative 
movement  within  Catholicism,  Modernism  has  been  relegated  to 
that  long  series  of  similar  forlorn  attempts  over  which  stand  the 


ST.  PAUL'S  UN  I  VERS  A  LI  ST  CHURCH  MEETING  125 

sorrowful  names  of  De  Lamennais,  Gratry,  Montalembert  and 
Rosmini. 

What  did  the  Modernist  do  when  the  crash  of  condemnation 
came?  The  word  went  all  along  the  line:  "Submit!  Close  your 
books !  Lay  aside  your  pens !  Consign  yourselves  to  sterility  and 
despair!"  And  here  it  is  that  Liberalism  speaks  its  vital  word  and 
inspiriting  message.  What,  in  these  circumstances  just  mentioned, 
should  we  as  Modernists  say  is  the  greatest  need  of  Modernists? 
It  is  that  they  open  their  eyes  to  the  divine  rights  and  imprescrip- 
tible dignity  of  manhood.  They  know  well  the  rights  of  the  eccle- 
siastical organization.  They  have  been  drilled  in  the  recognition  of 
them  all  their  lives.  Obedience  is  the  first  and  obedience  is  the 
last  word  of  clerical  education.  Now  it  is  time  for  them  to  per- 
ceive that  manhood  and  intellect  and  conscience  also  have  their 
rights,  and  that  there  are  occasions  when  these  rights  are  supreme. 
They  need  to  understand  that  every  intelligence  has  the  sacred  duty 
of  following  and  of  uttering  truth — that  no  authority  has  the 
right  to  put  the  curse  of  sterility  on  any  human  spirit,  and  that 
enforced  conformity  is  a  crime.  If  a  Modernist  has  a  needed  mes- 
sage for  his  age,  he  is  false  to  the  gifts  of  God  if  he  is  bludgeoned 
and  bullied  into  withholding  it.  If  he  has  any  contribution  to  make 
to  scholarship,  he  is  unworthy  to  be  called  a  disciple  of  truth  if 
his  pen  falls  from  a  hand  that  is  paralyzed  by  timidity.  If  he  is 
able  to  assist  human  society  toward  a  better  social  order  and  a 
purer  democracy,  he  is  but  a  wretched  specimen  of  teacher  or  re- 
former if  his  vision  of  the  welfare  of  mankind  is  obscured  by  the 
shadow  of  the  rod  that  strikes  him.  The  rights  of  systems  Mod- 
ernists understand.  The  rights  of  the  individual  and  those  august 
responsibilities  which  the  individual  owes  to  the  Creator  alone,  they 
need  now  to  understand. 

And  what  is  this  inspiring  teaching  of  human  dignity  but  the 
constant  and  historic  gospel  of  the  liberal  faith?  The  supremacy 
of  conscience,  the  God-likeness  of  every  man,  salvation  by  charac- 
ter and  the  glorifying  of  God  through  the  glorifying  of  man  is 
your  creed,  your  enthusiasm,  your  mighty  contribution  to  the 
prophetic  oracles  of  the  world.  Teaching  this  always,  you  teach  it 
now  to  these  Modernists  who  so  much  need  it.  Not  that  you  coun- 
sel them  to  revolt.  Whether  they  stay  within  or  go  outside  the 
church  you  leave  to  themselves  as  an  issue  concerning  which  the 
individual  soul  must  arrive  at  its  own  decision.  But  that  they 
should  realize  themselves,  live  freely,  richly,  purposefully,  and  that 
they  should  do  for  the  world  all  the  service  of  which  they  are  capa- 
ble— this  you  counsel  them,  as  you  counsel  whatsoever  man  will 
stop  to  hear.  Upon  the  manner  in  which  the  world  heeds  these 
lessons  depends  the  future  of  the  world.  Upon  the  manner  in 
which  Modernism  heeds  them  depends  the  dismal  failure  or  the 
glorious  success  of  that  movement.  Let  us  hope  that  the  great 
word  will  bear  fruit,  and  that  Modernism  will  so  develop  as  to 
aid  in  bringing  in  the  day  of  larger  liberty  and  loftier  character 


126 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

when  the  animosities  born  of  creeds  shall  have  passed  away,  and 
only  the  blessed  unities,  binding  us  together  in  brotherhood  and  to 
God  in  soulship,  shall  remain. 


Mr.  Wendte:  I  think  the  good  people  of  Chicago  have 
reason  to  congratulate  themselves  that  our  friend  should  have  de- 
livered his  first  address  on  an  independent  platform  in  this  city  and 
in  this  church.  Also  that  the  first  book  which  he  has  published 
since  his  struggle  is  a  book  whose  title  is  "Letters  to  Pope  Pius  X." 
and  was  published  by  a  Chicago  house,  the  Open  Court  Publish- 
ing Company.  So  that  you  have  given  him  a  double  hospitality — 
the  hospitality  of  publishing  his  book  and  of  receiving  his  spoken 
word.  Those  of  you  who  desire  to  know  more  concerning  our 
friend  who  has  spoken — I  am  saying  this,  I  fear,  with  some  little 
objection  on  his  part — will  find  in  that  book  a  fuller  exposition  of 
his  attitude. 

Music  by  the  choir, 

Mr.  Wendte:  Among  the  contemporaries  of  Theodore 
Parker,  of  whom  he  always  spoke  with  a  great  deal  of  reverence, 
was  Hosea  Ballou,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Universalist  Church 
in  America.  Indeed,  in  an  unpublished  writing  of  Theodore 
Parker's  I  recently  found  a  comparison  between  Dr.  Ballou  and 
Dr.  Channing,  in  which  he  expresses  the  opinion  that  Ballou  was 
a  greater  man  than  Dr.  Channing,  and  that  we  owe  him  a  precious 
debt  of  gratitude. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  a  great  privilege  to  welcome  this  even- 
ing on  this  platform  a  prominent  member  of  the  Universalist  church, 
an  exponent  of  the  higher  education  of  the  Universalist  body.  Our 
symposium  would  not  be  quite  perfect  unless  we  had  such  a  one 
on  our  program.  We  will  now  hear  from  Dr.  Hamilton,  Presi- 
dent of  Tufts  College. 

President  Tufts  College 

Theodore  Parker  is  no  longer  the  center  of  an  envenomed  con- 
troversy. Dead  fifty  years,  he  is  now  a  great  historical  figure.  The 
echoes  of  the  old  conflict  have  died  away  on  the  air.  The  contest 
is  settled.  The  fragments  wrenched  from  his  spoken  and  written 
words  and  bandied  about  by  men  who  did  not  understand  them 
have  ceased  to  be  the  basis  of  controversy. 

We  are  beginning  to  be  able  to  see  the  man  and  his  sayings 
as  they  were,  with  clear  eyes  and  with  understanding  minds.  We 
are  beginning  to  see  that  this  man  who  was  so  loved  and  feared  in 
his  day — and  I  think  it  was  fear  which  precipitated  the  controversy, 
as  it  always  does — was  not  a  mere  denier  of  truth,  was  not  a  reck- 
less soul  making  light  of  things  which  men  had  held  sacred  through 
the  ages,  was  not  an  image-breaker  or  a  faith-destroyer.    We  begin 


ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING  127 

to  see  that  the  characteristics  of  his  message  were  not  negation  and 
destruction,  but  that  he  was  a  true  and  humble  follower  of  the  man 
who  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill,  and  that  the  characteristic 
thing  about  Theodore  Parker  was  his  great  and  splendid  statement 
of  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity.  His  denials  were  merely 
intellectual;  his  destruction  was  merely  occasional.  It  was  as  a 
great  constructive  thinker,  a  man  who  laid  the  simple  foundations 
of  his  thought  down  deep  in  the  eternal  verities,  that  he  stands 
before  us  today,  and  it  is  as  a  great  constructive  thinker,  holding 
fast  to  the  simple  and  fundamental  things,  realizing  that  it  is  those 
things,  and  those  things  alone,  which  the  soul  needs,  that  he  is  to 
be  the  leader  of  the  religious  life  of  the  present  and  of  the  future* 

Much  has  been  said  always,  since  Parker's  death,  of  his  leader- 
ship in  politics,  in  social  science,  in  philanthropy  and  in  education. 
Sometimes  those  aspects  of  his  activity  have  been  presented  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  us  feel  as  if  he  scattered  himself  through 
many  varied  fields ;  as  if  he  might  have  suffered  from  a  diversion  of 
interests  and  a  division  of  power. 

I  am  very  glad  that  it  has  been  pointed  out  to  us  tonight 
that  these  things,  always  important  as  they  were,  bulked  so  little, 
comparatively,  in  the  whole  mass  of  his  work. 

It  was  not  that  Parker  had  many  interests — he  had  one  interest, 
and  that  interest  was  religion,  and  that  interest  expressed  itself  in 
leadership  in  these  other  channels,  because  to  him  they  were  part 
of  religion.  Religion  was  not  simply  what  a  man  was  to  think  on 
Sunday,  and  possibly  to  do  on  Sunday;  it  was  the  application  of 
the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  to  all  human  affairs. 

When  a  man  learned  really  to  say,  not  simply  from  his  teeth 
outward,  but  from  his  heart,  "Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven,"  he 
could  not  tolerate  slavery,  because  the  affirmation  of  human 
brotherhood  is  immediately  inconsistent  with  human  slavery.  He 
could  not  tolerate  the  permanent  depression  of  a  large  part  of 
humankind  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance,  while  the  few  enjoy  the 
light  of  knowledge;  he  must  be  a  leader  in  popular  education,  be- 
cause nothing  else  would  be  consistent  with  his  religion.  And  so 
of  the  other  things  which  were  involved,  these  things  in  which 
Parker  was  eminent.  They  are  parts  of  the  relation  to  and  expres- 
sion in  the  afifairs  of  daily  life  of  the  fundamental  convictions  of 
his  soul. 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  the  greatness  of  his  fundamental  affirma- 
tions and  in  the  thoroughness  of  his  application  of  them  to  the 
afifairs  of  life,  Parker  anticipated  the  religion  of  the  twentieth 
century,  for  the  twentieth  century  is  going  to  have  a  religion, 
though  there  are  a  great  many  people  who  have  tried  to  believe 
that  that  was  not  the  case.  Only  a  few  years  ago  a  very  distin- 
guished Frenchman  wrote  a  book  entitled  "The  Non-Religion  of 
the  Future,"  and  there  are  certain  theorists  with  some  pretensions 
to  eminence  who  tell  us  that  religion  is  doomed ;  that  the  world  is 
to   become   entirely   secularized   with    the   advance   of   civilization. 


128 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

There  never  was  a  greater  mistake.  Religion  is  in  the  world  to 
stay.  Religions  come  and  go.  The  world  has  had  a  great  many 
religions — it  probably  will  have  a  great  many  more.  Every  stage 
of  civilization,  every  fundamental  movement,  the  life  of  every 
period  of  human  history,  has  some  form  of  religion  which  it  de- 
velops in  accordance  with  the  inevitable  conditions  of  the  thinking 
of  the  time.  But  religion  itself,  clothing  itself  thus  from  century 
to  century,  in  the  varied  forms  which  the  time  shapes,  religion  is 
eternal.  The  religion  of  today  and  of  rhe  future  must  be  ulti- 
mately something  like  the  religion  of  Theodore  Parker,  a  religion 
which  holds  fast  to  a  few  great  and  simple  affirmations  and  then 
applies  those  affirmations  to  all  the  concerns  of  human  life. 

Prophecy  is  always  dangerous  business,  but  there  are  some 
prophecies  which  it  is  reasonably  safe  to  make ;  there  are  some 
conclusions  which  may  be  reasonably  drawn,  I  think,  from  condi- 
tions which  are  evident  to  everybody.  And  one  of  the  affirmations 
that  I  Vt^ant  to  make  in  defense  of  the  prophecy  which  I  have  just 
ventured  to  utter  is  this :  that  a  small  world  calls  for  a  big  religion ; 
a  big  world  may  well  be  packed  with  little  religions. 

Now,  this  is  a  small  world  in  which  we  live  today ;  the  whole 
world  is  not  as  big  as  a  single  country  was  a  few  centuries  ago. 
Think  for  a  moment  how  this  world  has  shrunk.  I  live  a  thou- 
sand miles  from  here ;  next  Monday  I  expect  to  leave  here  at  half- 
past  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  and  to  take  luncheon  at  my  usual 
hour  of  one  o'clock  in  my  own  house  the  next  day.  If  necessary, 
I  can  speak  to  my  family  at  any  time  from  here.  We  sat  at  meat 
the  other  day  with  a  man  whose  skin  is  not  the  color  of  ours, 
whose  native  speech  is  not  like  ours,  who  lives  on  the  other  side 
of  the  world  in  Calcutta.  He  was  here  among  us  as  a  friend 
speaking  to  us  in  our  own  language,  and  able  to  communicate  with 
his  office  in  Calcutta  in  a  few  hours  if  he  so  desired.  These  are 
common  things,  but  I  am  simply  calling  your  attention  to  them  so 
that  you  can  see  what  a  little  world  this  is  that  we  live  in,  how 
the  corners  of  it  have  been  drawn  so  close  together  that  we  begin 
to  understand  the  meanings  of  such  phrases  as  "all  men,"  and 
"everybody,"  and  "everywhere,"  and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  But, 
beginning  to  see  the  unity  and  at  the  same  time  the  variety  of 
human  life  and  human  nature,  means  that  religion  must  be  simple 
enough  and  big  enough  to  cover  these  inclusive  conceptions  whose 
real  meaning  is  just  beginning  to  dawn  upon  us,  because  we  are 
beginning  to  be  able  to  get  some  sight  of  the  contents. 

Years  ago,  when  the  world  was  a  very  big  world,  and  men 
did  not  know  anything  about  each  other  and  were  further  av^ay 
from  the  people  in  the  next  state  than  we  are  now  from  the  people 
across  the  Atlantic  ocean,  when  the  mental  horizon  of  the  indi- 
vidual was  circumscribed  and  the  immense  variety  and  unity  of 
humanity  was  unknown  and  not  perceptible,  men  made  their  little 
religions  according  to  local  thought  and  local  life  and  local  tra- 
ditions.    They  could  very  well  content  themselves  with  small  re- 


-ST.  PAUL'S  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH  MEETING  129 

ligions,  and  the  world  was  full  of  them,  because  it  was  made  up 
of  small  and  separate  sections. 

But  the  little  world  must  have  a  big  religion,  and  the  religion 
of  Theodore  Parker  was  a  big  religion ;  big  in  its  simplicity  and  big 
in  its  application.  We  cannot  separate  ourselves  any  longer  by  our 
philosophies  and  by  our  theological  conceptions.  We  must  realize 
that  there  are  great  units  which  are  greatly  more  important  than 
any  of  those  things  were.  We  don't  think  alike;  we  never  did 
think  alike  and  we  probably  never  will  think  alike,  because  we  are 
so  constituted  that  we  cannot  think  alike.  There  are  men  who 
could  not  be  Universalists,  and  there  are  others  who  could  not  be 
anything  else.  There  are  some  men  who  could  not  be  Protestants 
and  some  who  could  not  be  Catholics.  There  are  some  men  who 
could  not  be  Buddhists,  some  who  could  not  be  Confucianists,  and 
some  who  could  not  be  anything  else;  but  away  down  underneath 
and  around  the  Universalist  and  the  Baptist,  the  Catholic  and  the 
Protestant,  are  the  great  truths  of  human  life  and  the  simple  rela- 
tions to  God  and  to  other  human  lives,  and  those  are  the  things 
that  it  is  for  us  to  get  hold  of  with  something  of  the  simplicity 
and  something  of  the  vigor  and  something  of  the  power  and  the 
grasp  which  Theodore  Parker  had  upon  those  things.  And  when 
we  have  gotten  hold  of  them  we  have  the  religion  of  the  twentieth 
century,  and  it  is  an  essential  part  of  it  to  apply  them  to  the  con- 
cerns of  our  daily  lives. 

It  is  said  of  a  certain  English  gentleman  of  the  reign  of  King 
George  III.  that  he  stamped  out  of  church  in  a  fury  one  day,  de- 
claring that  he  did  not  see  what  this  world  was  coming  to  if  re- 
ligion was  going  to  be  made  to  invade  the  private  lives  of  indi- 
viduals— because  he  had  been  ofifended  by  the  direct  preaching  of 
a  certain  clergyman.  Well,  that  seems  almost  like  a  caricature, 
and  yet  religion  with  so  many  persons  in  those  days  when  the 
world  was  packed  with  the  little  religions  was  a  matter  of  belief 
about  this  thing  or  that  thing;  for  instance,  the  possession  of  the 
Holy  Spirit — was  it  from  God  alone  or  from  God  and  the  Son? 
Two  great  churches  arrayed  themselves  in  antagonism  over  that 
question,  and  that  schism  has  remained  for  centuries  and  shows 
no  signs  yet  of  closing. 

Should  the  whole  of  the  man  be  baptized,  or  only  a  little  of 
his  skin?     Churches  have  divided  over  that. 

Should  the  government  of  the  church  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
congregation,  or  should  it  be  a  monarchical  government?  Men 
have  divided  over  that. 

Are  we  free  agents  or  are  we  only  apparently  so?  Men  have 
divided  over  that.  And  they  have  been  so  interested  in  their  divi- 
sions and  discussions  over  those  things  that  they  have  forgotten 
that  there  were  human  wants  to  be  provided  for  and  human  lives 
as  well  as  human  souls  to  be  saved,  and  human  minds  to  be  en- 
lightened, and — yes,  human  stomachs  to  be  filled,  if  you  please, 
and  human  backs  to  be  clothed. 


130 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

They  have  forgotten  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  came  to  set  up 
the  Kingdom  of  God — something  perfectly  definite,  something  per- 
fectly tangible,  something  perfectly  possible  right  here  and  now — 
and  that  when  He  came  He  told  men  that  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven 
was  at  hand.  He  didn't  mean  that  it  was  tomorrow ;  he  meant  that 
it  was  close  at  hand,  locally,  not  temporally.  We  sometimes  forget 
that  the  expression  "at  hand"  has  two  meanings ;  it  may  mean  that 
a  thing  is  in  the  next  day,  or  it  may  mean  that  it  is  in  the 
next  room.  It  may  mean  that  it  is  near  in  time,  and  it  may  mean 
that  it  is  near  in  place,  and  Jesus  came  to  tell  men  that  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  was  at  hand.  Sometimes  we  say  He  was  a  false 
prophet,  because  that  was  two  thousand  years  ago  and  it  has  not 
come  yet ;  but,  beloved,  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  still  at  hand  in 
the  same  sense  it  was  then,  and  the  only  reason  it  has  not  come  in 
is  because  men  have  not  put  out  their  hands  and  taken  it,  because 
they  have  not  stepped  into  it,  because  of  the  strife  that  separates 
our  souls  from  those  of  our  fellows. 

When,  with  the  faith  of  Theodore  Parker,  we  can  see  the 
great,  simple  affirmations,  the  great,  simple  truths  of  religion,  and 
that  religion  has  to  do  with  relations  between  human  souls  and 
each  other,  as  well  as  between  human  souls  and  God,  and  when, 
with  the  consummate  common  sense  of  Theodore  Parker,  we  can 
apply  those  truth  to  all  the  concerns  of  our  daily  lives — from  the 
little  daily  things  which  go  on  in  our  homes,  to  our  business,  our 
philanthropy,  our  education  and  our  politics,  then  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  will  no  longer  be  at  hand — it  will  be  here. 


®If^  Bncxxii  Eittrnln  Ol^ntr^  il^rttttg 

».  A.  Wifitt,  S.  1..  3Prwibmg 
QIl|nradag  Afternoon.  Nnupmbpr  17,1910 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING  133 


Abral|am  ffitttroln  dlmtn 

Thursday  Afternoon  Session,  November  17,  1910 


REV.  R.  A.  WHITE,  Presiding 


Mr,  White:  I  have  a  friend,  a  very  celebrated  toastmaster 
in  Chicago,  who  has  drawn  up  a  series  of  rules  covering  toast- 
masters  in  particular  and  presiding  officers  at  public  meetings  in 
general.  These  rules  agree  that  the  presiding  officer  has  a  perfect 
right  to  speak  before  and  after  introducing  each  speaker,  getting 
in  this  way  two  speeches  to  the  other  fellow's  one.  He,  however, 
does  qualify  this  by  saying  that  the  presiding  officer  should  never 
speak  longer  on  either  occasion,  either  before  or  after  such  intro- 
duction, than  the  speakers  themselves  speak,  and  that  any  presid- 
ing officer  who  persists  in  speaking  for  two  hours  at  each  intro- 
ductory point  in  the  program  deserves  death.  Now,  though  I  have 
been  very  much  interested  in  this  Parker  anniversary  and  have 
been  saying  the  best  word  I  could  in  my  own  pulpit  for  the  last 
two  Sundays,  I  am  going  to  improve  today  upon  my  friend's  sug- 
gestion, I  am  going  to  be  more  merciful  to  the  speakers  than  he 
indicates  that  a  presiding  officer  ought  to  be.  I  take  great  pleasure 
in  introducing  Dr.  Heller  of  New  Orleans. 


Khhx^BB  bg  JSabbt  Mux  i^^iin 

New  Orleans 


THEODORE  PARKER  AS  A  REFORMER. 

If  I  rightly  understand  my  place  in  this  program,  I  have  been 
invited  here  in  a  double  capacity,  one  as  a  representative  of  the 
South,  having  been  asked  to  participate  in  this  celebration  for 
certain  special  reasons,  and  partly  as  a  representative  of  modern 
Judaism,  which  surely  takes  a  very  hearty  interest  in  the  celebra- 
tion of  such  a  personality  as  that  of  Theodore  Parker. 

It  is  for  the  first  reason  that  I  regret  that  I  was  prevented 
from  living  up  to  the  program  as  it  had  been  outlined  by  my  friend, 
Mr.  Jones,  and  from  being  here  to  take  my  place  with  the  other 
representatives  of  the  South ;  partly  because  I  would  have  had  the 
privilege  which  has  some  interest  to  us  in  the  South,  of  standing 
on  the  same  platform  with  a  colored  speaker,  and  partly  because 
I  should  have  liked  to  take  my  place  among  the  few  representa- 
tives of  the  South  who  profess  an  enthusiasm  for  the  life  and  the 
services  of  Theodore  Parker. 


134 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

It  may  be  interesting  to  this  audience  to  know  that  perhaps  the 
first  time  that  ever  a  service  commemorative  of  Theodore  Parker  was 
held  in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  in  which  I  have  made  my  domicile 
for  over  a  generation,  was  last  May,  when  it  was,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
at  my  suggestion  that  the  Unitarian  and  the  Jewish  congregations 
united  to  do  honor  to  Theodore  Parker  at  the  time  of  the  anniver- 
sary, I  believe,  of  his  birth.  We  were  very  glad  to  find  this  much  of 
an  improvement,  that  the  papers  were  willing  to  print  the  addresses, 
some  of  which  were  very  much  contrary  to  what  is  still  the  general 
feeling  about  those  times  and  about  those  men  in  the  South,  and 
that  they  did  so  at  least  without  comment,  either  way,  friendly  or 
hostile.  It  shows  that  a  certain  measure  of  progress  has  been 
made,  at  least  with  regard  to  the  tolerance  that  is  felt  toward  him 
and  his  views.  I  do  not  need  to  specify  that  in  New  Orleans,  as 
throughout  the  South,  Theodore  Parker  is  identified  very  promi- 
nently with  the  abolition  movement  and  that  the  years  that  have 
passed  since  that  movement  was  active,  have  not  yet  been  so  many 
as  to  completely  heal  over  the  wounds  that  the  war  has  left  in 
the  South. 

Not  being  sure  of  the  exact  place  I  would  hold  in  the  program, 
as  I  came  into  it  rather  late,  I  thought  that  it  would  be  legitimate 
for  me  to  speak  on  a  theme  as  general  and  as  embracing  as  that 
of  "Theodore  Parker  as  a  Reformer,"  a  theme  that  presents  him  in 
quite  a  number  of  lights  and  a  theme  that  approaches  very  closely 
to  the  inmost  grip  of  his  personality. 

It  was  the  misfortune  of  Theodore  Parker  that  he  lived  in  an 
age  and  an  environment  that  centered  around  one  issue,  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  and  that  his  life  was  too  brief  to  behold  the  final 
triumph,  except  at  a  considerable  distance.  It  was  perhaps  his 
still  greater  misfortune  to  have  been  born  in  a  country  and  a  civil- 
ization that  were  merely  beginning  to  unfold  an  original  culture, 
with  hardly  any  history  behind  them;  as  a  consequence,  he  was 
distinctively  of  an  age,  he  gave  himself  up  to  his  day  and  its  prob- 
lems, leaving  to  posterity  the  memory  of  past  power  and  the  in- 
spiration of  a  splendid  personality.  A  comprehensive  and  pro- 
found scholar,  he  left  no  contribution  to  scholarship  that  has  per- 
manent value ;  fiery  orator  and  powerful  writer,  he  finished  not 
one  classical,  perfectly  molded  specimen  of  literary  art;  a  subtle 
and  ingenious  theologian,  he  completed  no  system  that  has  given 
rise  to  a  school  of  theology;  ardent  and  devoted  Reformer,  he  has 
been  but  one  of  a  host  of  workers,  without  stamping  upon  any  one 
of  his  various  endeavors  the  seal  of  his  leadership. 

To  my  mind  there  was  in  the  man  the  material  for  the  making 
of  a  Luther,  a  Calvin  or,  at  least,  a  Savonarola.  It  is  not  often 
that  there  stand  at  one  man's  cradle  such  mutually  exclusive  gifts 
as,  on  the  one  hand,  the  omnivorous  memory,  the  tenacious  grasp 
of  detail  which  make  the  scholar,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  sacred 
fires,  the   perfervid   passions   which   make   the   prophet   and   hero; 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 135 

not  often  that  in  one  man  is  found  the  lucid  mind  which  rejects 
the  hoary  mytholog-ical  fable,  which  scorns  the  bHnd  dogma,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  glowing  soul,  the  God-intoxicated  spirit  which 
loves  God's  flower  and  God's  cloud,  which  goes  forth  in  tender 
yearning  and  in  eager  self-sacrifice  to  every  being  that  breathes 
under  the  wide  expanse.  Still  less  frequent  is  it,  in  the  records  of 
God's  saints,  that  one  who  delights  in  the  subtleties  of  theological 
controversy,  who  is  at  home  in  the  mazes  of  metaphysics  should 
plunge  with  exultation  into  the  battle-clash  of  a  Reform  warfare. 
It  was  Whittier,  I  believe,  whom  the  gentle  Channing,  with  his 
"half-battles  for  the  free,"  reminded  of  Luther;  the  comparison 
would  have  been  far  more  applicable  to  so  warlike  a  type  as 
Parker,  excelling  his  contemporary  as  he  did,  both  in  scholarship 
and  in  aggressiveness,  though  he  was  free,  of  course,  from  the 
peasant-like  coarseness  of  the  German  Reformer. 

To  understand  Theodore  Parker  as  a  reformer  we  must  real- 
ize how  intimate,  after  all,  was  the  touch  between  his  theology 
and  his  religiousness,  how  both  of  them  were  the  outflow  of  a 
vigorous  passionate  temperament,  spurning  injustice,  loving  free- 
dom, brooding  with  fiery  impatience  over  the  tragic  problems  of 
boundless  universe  and  unfathomable  soul.  Amid  a  thousand  joys 
such  as  bubble  up  in  the  receptive  spirit,  yet  the  "chiefest  of  his 
delights"  was  still  and  ever  that  which  he  had  from  religion.  To 
him.  as  to  Abou  ben  Adhem,  loving  God  was  to  love  man ;  "God," 
he  wrote  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "is  to  be  served  by  loving  man" ; 
from  his  earliest  youth  the  doctrine  of  eternal  damnation  filled  him 
with  shudders  of  repulsion ;  his  correspondence  and  his  diaries  as 
well  as  his  lectures  and  sermons  prove  how  constantly  and  with  how 
much  of  self-distrustful  toil  he  speculated  over  the  problems  of 
moral  and  physical  evil,  of  sin  and  suffering.  He  could,  on  the 
one  hand,  be  relentlessly  severe,  until  James  Freeman  Clarke  him- 
self, in  his  brief  sketch  of  Parker,  takes  occasion  expressly  to  dis- 
approve of  his  methods  as  "relentless  and  unsympathizing"  and 
expresses  the  wish  that  Parker  had  "felt  less  bitter  scorn  towards 
his  opponents."  Yet  the  same  man  would  give  lavishly  and  in  the 
spirit  of  utmost  meekness,  of  his  time  and  strength  as  well  as  of 
his  means,  to  the  ignorant  and  the  helpless ;  answering  letters  with 
unwearied  patience ;  dispensing  gratuitous  instruction  out  of  his 
obsessed  time;  assisting  aspiring  youths  to  go  through  college. 

In  the  reform  movements  of  his  day  he  participated  with 
greater  or  less  ardor,  in  proportion  as  they  appealed  more  or  less 
urgently  to  his  all-dominating  love  of  humanity.  It  was  for  this 
reason  that  he  denounced  slavery  with  such  zeal,  that  he  was  ready 
to  defy  and  denounce  the  law,  as  he  never  hesitated  to  risk  his 
life,  in  defense  of  his  convictions.  Not  but  that  there  were  ex- 
tremes to  which  he,  too,  refused  to  go.  His  was  the  impetuous 
nature  which  flings  itself,  heart  and  soul,  into  any  movement  of 
which   it   warmly   approves ;   the   other   side   he   was    congenitally 


i36 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

unable  to  see;  it  was  to  him  a  question  of  human  happiness  and 
human  right ;  to  its  practical  aspects  or  its  legal  sides  he  gave  no 
heed. 

He  was  far  more  cautious  and  deliberate,  however,  judicious 
in  the  midst  of  his  enthusiasm,  in  other  causes  which  enlisted  his 
devotion.  I  am  following  Frothingham's,  rather  than  Weiss'  biog- 
raphy in  the  attempt  to  sum  up  his  attitude  towards  the  agitations 
of  his  day.  He  was  a  strong  believer  in  temperance,  though  not 
in  prohibition  as  a  permanent  policy.  While,  personally,  he  not 
only  abstained  from  wine,  but  even  went  so  far,  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment,  as  to  sign  the  pledge,  he  was  impelled  to  his  advocacy 
altogether  by  his  poignant  realization  of  the  fearful  evils  of  drink; 
he  saw  no  sin  whatever  in  the  temperate  use  of  stimulants ;  yet  he 
conscientiously  believed  that  "right  now"  the  evil  had  grown  to 
such  gigantic  proportions  as  to  justify,  even  necessitate  "an  in- 
vasion of  private  right  for  the  rights  of  all."  He  had  studied  the 
question  carefully  from  all  sides,  before  he  committed  himself 
with  all  the  ardor  of  unhesitating  advocacy  to  the  cause  he  espoused. 

Puritanism,  however,  aroused  his  opposition  on  its  intolerant 
and  coercive  side,  as  it  won  his  sympathy  where  he  conceived  it 
as  a  battling  with  an  engulfing  bane.  He  took  part  in  the  Anti- 
Sabbath  convention  of  1848  as  one  of  the  eminent  leaders  in  the 
movement  against  the  puritanical  Sabbath.  He  makes  the  natural 
and  pardonable  mistake  of  identifying  the  rigors  of  Sabbath  legis- 
lation with  Jewish  example ;  but  his  learning  was  rather  defective 
on  the  side  of  Jewish  history  and  Jewish  literature,  for  which  lack 
of  opportunities  is  to  blame,  rather  than  lack  of  interest. 

A  rather  difficult  chapter  of  Parker's  Reform  efforts  is  that 
relating  to  the  rights  of  women.  He  lived  in  surroundings  in 
which  the  woman  question  ranked  almost  next  in  importance  to 
that  of  slave  emancipation ;  men  like  Wendell  Phillips  felt  that 
the  two  problems  were  almost  correlative ;  while  he  pondered  and 
studied  laboriously  over  the  complications  of  marriage  and  divorce, 
while  he  correctly  recognized  that  the  evils  of  enforced  celibacy 
only  exist  "in  consequence  of  the  general  tyranny  which  has  been 
so  long  exercised  by  the  bigger  brain  over  the  smaller,"  while  he 
expected  gradual  reform  of  the  various  injustices  that  crush  women 
only  "as  the  idea  of  her  equality  takes  footing,"  he  never  went  so 
far  as  expressly  to  advocate  equal  suffrage,  though,  again  and 
again,  he  gave  expression  to  his  strong  desire  to  see  women  par- 
ticipate in  all  the  privileges  of  modern  life,  educational,  social 
and  civil. 

He  entertained,  and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  champion,  strong 
convictions  adverse  to  the  infliction  of  capital  punishment  which 
he  went  so  far  as  to  designate  as  "the  sin  of  judicial  murder."  He 
was,  of  course,  a  persistent  and  enthusiastic  advocate  of  Prison 
Reform;  he  spoke  of  what  he  called  "the  perishing  classes"  with 
the  most  unaffected  compassion. 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 137 

Without  being  a  non-resistant,  like  William  Lloyd  Garrison, 
he  denounced  war  as  a  species  of  unjustifiable  violence  which  was 
resorted  to  without  need  nine  times  out  of  ten ;  he  greeted  Sum- 
mer's notable  oration  on  The  Grandeur  of  Nations  with  ardent  en- 
thusiasm; he  believed  that  warfare  would  be  steadily  reduced  as 
nations  became  more  civilized,  until  it  became  altogether  impossible. 

In  many  ways  Theodore  Parker  has  laid  our  civilization  under 
a  lasting  debt  of  gratitude.  He  labored,  together  with  a  remark- 
able generation  of  poets,  philosophers  and  scholars,  to  make  our 
moral  and  religious  life  finer  and  nobler;  living  at  a  time  when 
eagerness  for  knowledge  and  aspiration  for  advancement  were  at 
their  best,  he  toiled  among  the  foremost  to  cultivate  that  rich  soil 
in  the  interests  of  enlightenment  and  justice.  Not  only  was  he  the 
first  of  independent  preachers,  the  first  pulpit-speaker  and  religious 
worker  to  strike  out  upon  the  wider  field  of  a  free  church,  making 
it  the  easier  for  other  strong  and  devoted  men  to  follow  the  exam- 
ple once  set,  but  he  dared  to  ofifer  to  vast  popular  audiences  as 
their  Sabbath-food  elaborate  treatises  on  social  and  political  re- 
form. With  Emerson,  Alcott  and  others  it  was  he,  to  no  small 
extent,  who  helped  to  create  and  to  satisfy  an  appetite  for  plat- 
form instruction  such  as  the  lecturer  of  today  must  sigh  for  in 
vain.  He  was,  if  we  accept  the  view  of  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
a  Yankee  of  the  Yankees,  and  yet  he  was,  at  the  same  time,  not 
only  an  American  of  Americans,  descended  from  the  best  revolu- 
tionary blood,  grandson  of  the  man  who  fired  the  first  shot  at  Lex- 
ington, but  also,  in  many  ways,  a  citizen  of  the  world,  at  home  in 
numerous  languages,  a  devotee  of  many  literatures,  in  active  cor- 
respondence with  old  world  scholars,  accustomed  to  study  every 
problem  both  in  the  light  of  history,  and  under  the  illumination  of 
the  world's  scholarship. 

Dying  in  comparative  youth  he  did  not  feel  that  his  life  was  a 
disappointment;  as  he  called  optimism  "the  piety  of  science"  he 
cultivated  a  hopeful  view  regarding  humanity  and  the  future ;  his 
deep  religiousness  was  mainly  joyful,  never  darkened,  if  often 
deeply  moved,  by  those  tragic  sources  of  evil  and  pain  which  he 
felt  in  the  very  depths  of  his  fervid  spirit.  His  name  will  remain 
a  symbol  for  lofty  religious  passion,  for  the  rich  mind  that  is  in 
the  service  of  the  warm  heart,  for  that  love  of  liberty  which  can 
breathe  freely  only  in  an  atmosphere  of  justice  and  equality — 

Amen! 


Mr.  White:  We  have  listened  intently  to  this  strong  and 
interesting  word  from  one  section  of  our  country,  from  the  city 
that  sits  by  its  Southern  seas,  and  now  we  are  to  listen  to  another 
voice,  from  the  city  of  Parker's  adoption. 

You,  of  course,  have  already  been  told  of  the  many  years' 
service  of  Theodore  Parker  in  his  two  pulpits  in  the  city  of  Boston, 


138 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

and  we  are  very  fortunate  today  in  being  able  to  have  a  voice  from 
that  city  by  the  Eastern  sea. 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  the  Rev.  Charles  F.  Dole 
of  Boston. 


Boston,  Massachusetts 


THEODORE     PARKER     AND     THE     OFFICE     OF     THE 
PROPHET  IN  MODERN  TIMES. 

I  am  sure  that  it  is  always  very  good  to  keep  the  company  of 
the  prophets  and  heroes  and  also  to  keep  the  company  of  the  people 
who  earnestly  reverence  their  memory. 

What  do  we  really  mean  when  we  call  a  man  a  prophet? 
What  does  the  prophet  do?  I  take  it  he  is  the  man  who,  at  least 
for  the  time,  stands  at  the  height  of  his  life  as  a  man.  Standing 
at  the  height  of  his  life,  at  his  best  intellectually  and  spiritually,  he 
is  able  to  see  over  the  heads  of  common  men,  over  his  own  head  in 
its  ordinary  condition,  and  he  is  thus  able  to  see  how  mankind  are 
marching,  and  what  ought  to  be  done. 

In  this  way  Parker  comes  to  us  as  a  very  beautiful  example 
of  the  eternal  spirit  of  prophecy. 

See  what  perfectly  splendid  qualities  he  brought  to  his  work. 
In  the  first  place,  a  very  open  mind,  ready  to  catch  the  light  from 
whatever  source  it  came. 

Then  a  conscientious  habit  of  study;  he  was  unlike  many  who 
call  themselves  reformers,  and  who  hastily  make  their  decisions. 
He  studied.     He  took  every  means  to  become  enlightened. 

Then  he  had  the  absolute  courage  of  his  convictions ;  there 
was  no  fear  in  the  man,  a  quality  that  I  take  it  was  the  by-product 
of  his  entire  abandon  and  devotion  to  whatever  was  right.  You 
might  say  that  the  motto  of  his  life  was,  "Whatever  is  right,  fol- 
low it.  Whatever  is  true,  open  your  eyes  and  see  it.  Whatever 
beautiful  ideal  discloses  itself,  make  that  ideal  real." 

Moreover,  he  was  a  man  of  a  very  large  heart  and  a  strong 
sympathy,  especially  with  the  oppressed  and  the  poor  and  the 
needy,  and  those  whom  men  ordinarily  cast  aside  as  worthless ; 
that  is,  he  was  a  man  of  democratic  spirit. 

Now,  when  a  man  rises  to  the  full  height  of  his  life  with  these 
superb  qualities,  granting  that  he  has  the  needful  information, 
that  he  is  able  to  possess  himself  of  all  the  facts,  granting  also 
that  he  could  always  maintain  himself  on  the  same  level  of  his 
high  vision — such  a  man  would  see  almost  as  God  sees ;  he  would 
be  near  to  infallibility. 

It  is  useless  to  ask  ourselves  what  Parker  would  do  or  say 
or  be  today.    This  is  as  impossible  to  know  as  is  the  ideal  question 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 139 

they  are  asking  about  Jesus,  namely,  if  Jesus  came  back,  what 
would  he  say  or  do  or  be?  What  they  mean  when  they  try  to 
answer  that  question  is  to  set  forth  what  they  think  they  them- 
selves, if  they  possessed  the  qualities  and  the  great  experience  and 
the  genius,  would  do  and  be  and  say. 

I  cannot  therefore  tell  just  what  Parker  would  be  if  he  were 
alive  today;  I  can  only  try  to  set  forth  what  I  think  the  ideal  man 
would  do  or  be  or  say. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  he  might  in  some  respects  be  dif- 
ferent from  what  he  would  have  been  at  any  age  before ;  for  when 
we  say  that  there  are  certain  great  qualities  that  go  to  make  the 
prophet,  that  he  is  the  man  who  stands  at  the  height  of  his  life, 
and  at  that  height  tells  his  vision  to  others,  there  is  another  side 
which  also  goes  to  the  making  of  the  prophet.  It  is  the  moral  and 
spiritual  and  social  environment  which  is  around  him,  and  there 
can  be  no  question  that  there  has  been  something  of  a  change  in 
the  moral  and  spiritual  environment  since  Parker's  day. 

I  do  not  mean  that  Parker  did  not  himself  largely  understand 
the  changing  intellectual  conditions  of  which  I  shall  speak,  but  I 
mean  that  it  was  impossible  for  a  man  dying  as  early  in  the  last 
century  as  he  died,  to  take  into  account  all  the  implications  of  cer- 
tain new  facts  that  were  already  coming  into  view,  and  especially 
to  Parker,  who  was  marching  ahead  of  the  men  of  his  day. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  unitary  conception  of  life,  the 
conception  of  the  world  as  a  universe  and  as  a  beneficent  universe. 
Parker,  of  course,  had  that  conception,  but  Parker,  like  all  the 
prophets  before  him,  inherited,  I  suspect,  and  keenly  felt,  the 
thought  and  habits  and  traditions  of  the  men  of  the  earlier  time 
in  regard  to  their  method  of  action. 

The  thought  of  the  old  world  and  of  the  prophets  of  the  old 
times  was  largely  tinctured  by  a  certain  intellectual  dualism ;  they 
lived  in  a  debatable  land  of  everlasting  war  between  the  powers  of 
good  and  evil.  There  were  devils  and  bad  men  set  over  against 
the  good.  The  business  of  the  good  men  was  to  fight  and  slay. 
Men's  habits  of  thought  and  especially  of  conduct,  as  they  adjusted 
themselves  toward  the  facts  of  evil,  were  largely  tinctured  by  this 
old  dualism.  These  habits  survived  even  after  the  unitary  concep- 
tion had  come  in.  I  believe  that  multitudes  of  people  have  not  yet 
thrown  themselves  out  of  gear  with  old  methods  of  thought  about 
the  universe,  which  no  longer  really  belong  to  them,  and  which  they 
would  repudiate  if  they  stopped  to  think. 

The  common  judgment  of  human  nature  was  colored  by  this 
dualism.  Human  nature  was  divided  between  the  bad  and  the 
good.  You  have  it  in  the  New  Testament,  the  good  and  the  bad 
fish,  the  sheep  and  the  goats  separated  from  one  another.  The 
habit  of  the  old  prophet  was  to  range  himself  and  the  few  who 
were  in  sympathy  with  him  against  very  actual  powers  of  evil. 


140 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Now,  we  are  coming  to  see  by  the  clue  of  evolution  a  very 
different  thought  as  regards  the  sort  of  ethics  which  demand  our 
obedience.  The  old  idea  of  ethics  was  that  of  a  static  condition. 
This  thing  was  absolutely  right;  this  other  was  wrong  as  against 
right.  How  many  of  us  have  heard  it  said,  "You  must  do  right, 
because  it  is  right,"  as  if  the  right  were  rigidly  fixed.  This  static 
idea  of  right  cannot  be  true  in  a  world  that  is  evolving,  in  which 
we  are  coming  constantly  to  see  higher  forms  of  life  and  conduct. 
A  new  and  higher  right  is  ever  coming  into  view.  The  fact  is  that 
right  is  the  expression,  is  it  not,  of  the  highest  power  there  is  in 
the  universe,  of  good  will  or  love?  It  is  the  method  or  expression 
of  that  power ;  whatever  best  expresses  good  will  is  right.  Thus, 
in  a  large  way,  evolution  helps  us  to  a  conception  of  the  dynamic 
force  of  right,  as  something  which  is  all  the  time  growing,  and  in 
accordance  with  this,  men  are  not  ranged  absolutely  between  the 
bad  and  the  good  any  longer. 

They  are  in  all  stages  of  evolution  upwards  from  the  early 
animalism  and  barbarism  toward  what  Paul  calls  the  manifestation 
of  the  children  of  God.  You  cannot  draw  any  line  and  say,  "Here 
are  those  who  have  attained  and  here  are  those  who  are  on  the 
opposite  side,"  but  they  are  all,  in  a  way,  on  the  path  upward ;  all 
the  conditions  shade  into  each  other.  Now,  this  makes  an  im- 
mense difference  in  our  treatment. 

For  instance,  take  that  typical  story  of  Theodore  Parker's  con- 
duct in  relation  to  Webster's  7th  of  March  speech.  It  seems  to 
me  that  there,  through  the  dualistic  habit  growing  out  of  his  tra- 
ditional idea  of  right,  he  set  Webster  over  against  himself,  as  one 
who  had  altogether  repudiated  and  turned  his  back  on  the  light. 
Whereas,  I  take  it  the  truth  v/as,  that  Daniel  Webster  had  never 
yet  fairly  seen  the  vision  that  gave  Parker  his  clear  sight  and  the 
new  ideal  of  the  right.  Webster  was  probably  expressing  at  that 
time  the  reality  of  his  own  inner  nature,  and  it  was  all  that  he 
could  express  at  that  stage  of  his  development.  At  any  rate  we 
are  coming  to  see  that  there  is  a  very  important  truth  in  this  kind- 
lier judgment  of  human  nature.  It  is  as  if  on  the  great  orchard 
field  of  the  world  there  were  people  in  all  stages  of  development, 
some  more  or  less  ripe,  others  hard  and  green.  Others  no  doubt 
are  suffering  from  arrested  development.  One  of  the  figures  that 
helps  us  about  these  cases  is  that  of  disease  which  the  physician 
has  to  treat  and  cure.  How  cure?  By  the  inflow  of  life;  let  more 
life  come,  let  there  be  fullness  of  nutrition  and  the  disease  tends 
largely  to  drop  away. 

Under  this  new  thought  the  work  of  the  reformer  or  the 
prophet  today  is  constructive  work.  You  constantly  hear  the  old 
hostile  tone  among  those  who  ought  to  know  better.  Yes,  among 
those  who  say  that  they  are  evolutionists.  They  think  that  their 
business  is  to  strike  out  and  oppose  other  men.  They  conceive 
themselves  to  be  engaged  in  a  fight  with  evil.    But  all  the  problems 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 141_ 

in  which  they  are  engaged,  touching  family  relations,  touching  the 
relations  between  the  races  or  between  employers  and  employed  are 
incidental  to  the  great  constructive  work  that  is  going  on,  namely, 
the  work  of  building  up  the  temple  of  civilization.  The  figures  and 
methods  of  militarism,  though  they  have  certain  uses,  are  apt  to  be 
misleading,  untruthful  and  dangerous. 

You  may  thus  say  that  the  most  helpful  part  of  the  work  of 
any  one  who  helps  his  kind,  and  especially  one  who  may  be  con- 
sidered to  be  in  any  form  a  prophet  of  the  new  day,  is  that  of  the 
moral  or  spiritual  or  social  engineer. 

Here  is  the  engineer  laying  out  a  line  of  railway  through  the 
wilderness,  over  all  manner  of  obstacles  in  his  path ;  there  are 
marshes  to  be  drained,  and  rivers  to  be  crossed ;  there  are  rocks  to  be 
hewn  through ;  all  these  are  the  engineer's  problems ;  but  they  are 
all  incidental  to  his  work.  And  so,  these  social  problems  are  all 
incidental  to  the  work  of  the  social  reformer.  They  arise  because 
this  is  a  world  in  process  of  evolution  upward ;  they  arise  by  virtue 
of  the  light  that  shines.  They  would  not  be  at  all  in  a  world  that 
was  wholly  dark,  into  which  sympathy  and  love  had  not  come. 
They  touch  our  sympathies  and  spur  us  into  action  just  in  propor- 
tion as  light  and  love  come  into  our  lives  and  make  us  see  the  won- 
derful magnitude  of  the  enterprise  of  lifting  men  to  civilization. 
We  cannot  bear  to  see  our  fellows  living  in  the  dark,  when  once 
our  eyes  have  been  opened  to  what  the  true  life  of  men  and  women 
at  their  best  is. 

This  means  the  great  thought  of  democracy,  one  very  dear  to 
Parker's  heart,  but  one  which  it  seems  to  me  comes  to  us  in  per- 
haps a  more  hopeful  form  than  it  could  have  come  in  Parker's  day. 
You  see,  today  we  have  conquered  certain  obstacles  which  loomed 
stupendous  in  Parker's  time.  We  have  conquered  the  mischief  of 
slavery,  it  has  been  swept  out  of  the  world.  We  have  seen  what 
has  been  already  done  in  ridding  the  world  of  alcohol ;  millions  of 
people  in  America  are  living  without  it ;  we  begin  to  catch  sight  of 
what  the  world  is  capable  of  doing  and  becoming,  and  it  gives  us  a 
new  sense  of  the  possibilities  of  the  great  democracy. 

Now  then,  let  us  see  certain  qualities  which  come  especially 
to  the  mind  of  the  modern  reformer  in  view  of  these  large  concep- 
tions of  a  divine  universe,  which  are  opening  upon  us  with  fuller 
light  than  they  could  have  come  fifty  years  ago.  Let  us  see  what 
modification  the  great  qualities  which  were  in  Parker  take  on, 
under  the  influence  of  a  thoroughly  constructive  ideal  of  the  work 
of  civilization  and  the  magnitude  of  its  interrelated  problems. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  borne  in  upon  us  the  need  for  the 
prophet  and,  indeed,  for  every  man,  of  a  quiet  and  profound  mod- 
esty. Such  modesty  was  hardly  possible  in  the  early  days,  when  a 
prophet,  being  an  inspired  man,  set  apart  from  others  and  above 
other  men,  gifted  with  a  kind  of  infallibility,  seemed  to  himself  at 
liberty  to  say  everything  that  came  into  his  mind,  as  of  divine  in- 


142 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

spiration.  This  has  been  a  danger  to  this  day  to  all  the  men  who  see 
clearly  beautiful  ideals,  who  think  that  they  alone  are  right  in  set- 
ting forth  their  ideals,  and  also  in  putting  forward  their  own  con- 
ceptions of  the  best  methods  by  which  these  ideals  can  be  realized. 
We  are  learning  today  the  danger  of  this  prophetic  habit  of  arro- 
gance. It  is  not  even  enough  that  a  man  be  filled  with  a  good  spirit ; 
he  also  needs  a  large  intelligence,  and  to  realize  profoundly  the  com- 
plicated conditions  under  wiiich  moral  engineering  has  to  be  car- 
ried on. 

There  is  hardly  a  problem  before  the  world  that  seems  quite 
as  simple  to  us  today  as  the  problem  of  slavery,  for  instance,  which 
loomed  so  big  to  the  generation  in  which  Parker  lived.  There 
seemed  to  be  a  clear  question  of  right  or  wrong.  But  these  social 
problems  of  our  day  have  come  to  us  in  far  more  complicated 
tangle  of  practical  difficulty. 

For  instance,  who  is  really  wise  enough,  or  good  enough,  to 
tell  us  what  is  "around  the  corner"  before  the  advance  of  mankind, 
as  regards  the  prophecies  of  the  socialists  ?  Who  knows  what 
socialism  is,  or  would  be?  Who  knows  what  anarchism  is,  or 
would  be?  We  are  confronted  with  the  immensity  of  the  world 
and  its  problems,  and  it  behooves  us  to  look  upon  them  w-ith  great 
modesty. 

Moreover,  there  comes  to  us,  in  accordance  with  the  views 
which  I  have  tried  to  consider,  of  the  slow  evolution  of  the  ideals 
of  right,  the  need  of  an  all-around  sympathy.  The  sympathy  of 
the  men  of  the  early  times  was  largely  with  those  who  were  under 
the  harrow,  with  those  of  their  own  kind,  with  the  poor  and  dis- 
tressed. But  we  find  that  sympathy  is  requisite  for  all  kinds  and 
conditions  of  men,  sympathy  for  Pharisees,  or  those  who  seem  to 
us  to  be  Pharisees.  We  can  leave  out  of  the  account  of  our  sym- 
pathy no  class  of  men,  once  having  recognized  that  all  men  are 
only  in  a  certain  stage  of  development.  There  exist  no  classes 
which  anyone  can  afford  to  antagonize. 

Some  men  who  try  our  patience  are  like  hard  winter  apples ; 
they  are  green  yet,  but  there  is  a  precious  quality  in  them,  and  a 
mighty  power  of  will  in  some  of  these  strong  Philistines  who  seem 
to  oppose  us,  who  assuredly  need  our  sympathy.  We  can  only  get 
on  today  by  the  use  of  all  around  sympathy  towards  all  kinds  of 
men. 

I  always  loved  that  passage  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
where  the  goodness  of  God  is  likened  to  the  sunshine  which  falls 
on  all,  and  I  like  that  passage  in  the  Apocrypha  where  it  says, 
"God  hateth  nothing  that  He  hath  made."  The  old  tendency  was 
to  hate  the  people  who  oppose  you,  especially  if  they  are  rich  and 
powerful.     We  can  hate  no  one  today. 

This  means  also  a  quality  which  is  yet  rather  rare  among 
social  reformers — the  co-operative  spirit,  the  will  and  the  inclina- 
tion and  the  hope  to  work  together  with  all  sorts  of  fellow  work- 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 143 

ers.  We  are  apt  to  be  tempted  to  repudiate  certain  men  who  are 
not  of  our  kind.  We  say  that  we  do  not  care  for  their  help,  but 
we  have  to  learn  that  we  must  use  all  men,  according  to  the  uses 
there  are  in  them.  This  is  the  teaching  of  the  better  pedagogy, 
which  insists  upon  using  every  kind  of  quality  which  it  finds  in  the 
child,  making  each  one  contribute  to  the  child's  progress.  Thus 
we  use  whatever  partial  and  meager  aptitude  we  find  for  the  sake 
of  developing  the  rest  of  the  character.  In  this  way  alone  do  we 
win;  in  this  way  only  will  success  come,  by  utilizing  power  and 
co-operating  with  whatever  promising  quality  we  can  find  in  the 
life  of  those  with  whom  we  have  to  live  and  work. 

Again,  this  means  a  very  large  patience,  a  patience  blended 
with  a  sense  of  humor,  because  on  one  side,  nearly  all  the  things 
that  trouble  us  have  their  humorous  aspects. 

You  may  now  ask  whether  these  modifications  in  the  character 
of  the  prophet  or  reformer  are  quite  consistent  with  the  necessary 
enthusiasm.  They  tell  us  indeed  that  you  cannot  even  do  any 
scientific  work  without  enthusiasm,  you  cannot  get  any  kind  of 
success  without  a  hopeful  will-power,  to  give  the  needful  buoyancy 
and  determination  to  cope  with  your  task.  Let  us  face  this  ques- 
tion, because  it  is  often  supposed  that  the  enthusiasts  are  agitators, 
who  strike  attitudes  at  indignation  meetings  and  wax  eloquent  in 
depicting  social  evils,  who  are  out  to  break  windows.  Is  this  the 
kind  of  enthusiast  whom  we  need? 

The  fact  is,  that  the  mere  agitator  lacks  those  very  qualities 
that  make  the  prophet ;  he  lacks  the  wide,  hearty  sympathy,  he  lacks 
patience,  he  often  badly  lacks  humility,  he  sometimes  lacks  the  will 
power  or  determined  resolution  to  accomplish  results,  he  lacks  the 
engineer's  spirit  of  co-operation  in  effort.  It  is  easy  to  lift  up  your 
voice  and  cry  aloud  and  denounce ;  it  is  vastly  more  difficult  to  con- 
struct and  persuade.    That  is  the  work  of  trained  intelligence. 

Of  course,  we  have  uses  for  all  kinds  and  conditions  of  men, 
and  therefore  I  suppose  for  the  agitator,  but  I  believe  that  the 
amount  of  waste,  always  involved  in  the  habit  of  denunciation  and 
abuse,  and  especially  in  the  expression  of  bitterness,  can  scarcely 
be  measured. 

I  often  wonder,  as  we  go  back  to  the  story  of  the  Civil  War, 
whether  we  did  not  put  back  the  great  reform  of  overturning 
slavery  by  the  continued  and  unsympathetic  abuse  of  the  men  on 
the  Southern  side,  who  were  fatally  involved  in  the  system.  It 
was  so  easy  from  the  Northern  side,  where  no  one  had  temptation 
to  hold  slaves,  to  denounce  those  who  were  caught  in  the  trammels 
of  the  system. 

Do  you  really  indeed  suppose  that  Jesus  accomplished  any- 
thing by  turning  the  money-changers  out  of  the  temple  with  the 
whip  of  small  cords?  What  possible  use  was  it?  Those  men,  after 
the  incident,  were  the  same  as  they  were  before ;  they  were  going 
back  to  do  the  same  work  and,  moreover,  all  sympathy  had  been 


144 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

hopelessly  lost  between  them  and  the  man  who  was  there — if  for 
any  high  service — to  show  them  the  vision  of  a  better  kind  of  life. 
I  doubt  whether  denunciation  ever  accomplishes  an\i:hing.  I  do 
not  say  that  we  should  not  tell  the  truth,  or  that  we  should  endorse 
evil  or  compromise  with  it.  I  urge  that  the  method  of  one  who 
stands  olT,  harsh,  violent,  merely  crying  out  against  evils,  unsym- 
pathetic with  the  people  who  are  close  pressed  by  the  entangling 
conditions  of  their  environment  which  almost  force  evil  upon  them, 
is  itself  a  survival  of  barbarism ;  it  is  not  practical,  persuasive,  or 
effective.     Does  it  not  break  the  majestic  law  of  good  will? 

Now  then,  it  seems  to  me  that  enthusiasm — to  use  the  full 
sense  of  the  old  Greek  word  from  which  we  have  our  term — is 
the  residence  in  man  of  the  life  of  God ;  the  power  of  God  in  man ; 
it  is  the  sympathy  of  God  flowing  in  the  man.  It  is  in  the  man  at 
his  best,  when  his  sympathies  are  the  broadest,  when  he  sees  intel- 
ligently the  greatness  of  the  work  to  be  done,  and  at  the  same  time 
sees  patiently  how  costly  it  is,  and  who  gives  himself  therefore  with 
renewed  consecration  to  it — very  careful  how  he  blames  others  who 
have  not  yet  got  his  sight,  who  have  not  had  his  opportunities. 

This  all  rests  back  on  a  sublime  faith,  which,  whenever  it 
comes  to  us,  breeds  enthusiasm.  It  is  the  good  engineer's  faith, 
who  has  an  all-around  optimism,  not  the  easy  optimism  of  one  who 
simply  sees  the  glory  of  the  distant  view,  but  who  sees  the  obstacles 
to  be  overcome,  the  cost  of  the  work,  and  yet  rises  out  of  his  per- 
plexities determined  to  pay  the  cost  and  to  overcome  the  obstacles, 
with  a  large  confidence  that  the  forces  of  the  world  go  with  him  to 
solve  his  problems  and  give  him  success. 

And  so  we  are  cheered  with  a  large,  all-around  optimism  and 
a  deep  faith  that  we  live  in  a  world — not  where  man  is  the  highest 
creator,  where  he  works  only  by  himself,  not  in  a  world  of  a  weak 
God,  unable  to  carry  out  his  ideas  unless  we  little  men,  perchance, 
rouse  ourselves  to  assist  him,  but  a  world  governed  by  almighty 
power,  which  has  eternal  goodness  at  the  heart  of  it,  where  we  can 
always  depend  on  its  constant  justice  and  mercy  and  truth;  whose 
light  is  ever  pouring  into  our  lives ;  that,  in  short — as  our  Brother 
Jones  loves  to  say,  this  is  a  world  where 

"No  good  thing  is  failure, 
No  evil  thing  success." 


Mr.  White:  We  have  had  now  an  analysis  of  Parker  as  the 
reformer,  from  another  point  of  view,  intensely  interesting,  care- 
fully conceived,  and  strongly  expressed. 

Now.  we  are  to  hear  another  speaker. 

There  has  recently  appeared  from  the  press  a  very  interesting 
book.  I  have  not  yet  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  this  book — 1 
shall  very  soon  give  myself  that  pleasure,  but  I  am  assured  that  it 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 145 

is  a  very  strong  and  interesting  book  on  the  authority  of  Mr. 
Jones,  who  has  carefully  read  and  analyzed  it.  It  is  the  latest 
word  in  America,  and,  as  I  understand,  in  very  many  respects,  the 
strongest  word  that  has  been  uttered  on  Lincoln,  and  carries  with 
it  many  things  that  many  publications  of  the  past  had  not  yet  suc- 
ceeded in  corraling. 

I  am  sure  we  are  all  very  much  interested  in  the  fact  that  the 
author  of  that  recent  book  on  Lincoln  is  with  us  this  afternoon 
and  will  speak  on  Lincoln  and  Theodore  Parker — or  on  Theodore 
Parker  and  Lincoln. 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  the  Rev.  Joseph  F.  New- 
ton of  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa,  who  will  speak  to  you  on  this  subject. 

Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa 


THEODORE  PARKER  AND  LINCOLN. 

My  theme  links  together  the  names  of  two  memorable  men, 
each  utterly  unlike  the  other,  yet  both  of  them  held  in  our  loving 
and  grateful  remembrance.  It  may  seem  strange  that  these  two 
names  should  be  linked  together  at  all.  Lincoln,  so  far  as  we 
know,  never  saw  Theodore  Parker.  They  came  close  together  on 
one  occasion,  when  Parker  visited  the  office  of  Lincoln  in  1856,  as 
the  guest  of  the  partner  of  Lincoln ;  but,  as  you  recall,  Mr.  Lincoln 
made  more  than  fifty  speeches  in  the  campaign  of  that  year,  and  he 
was  not  at  home  when  Parker  lectured  in  Springfield  and  was  the 
guest  of  William  H.  Herndon. 

While  it  is  true  that  these  two  men  never  looked  into  each 
other's  faces,  each  influenced  the  other,  and  it  is  of  that  influence — 
to  trace  the  current  of  it — that  I  should  like  to  detain  you  a  few 
moments.  The  mediator  between  Theodore  Parker  and  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  William  H.  Herndon — a  man  much  misunderstood, 
even  belittled,  and  at  times  actually  belied,  for  the  reason  that  he 
remained  in  the  background  unknown.  I  count  it  a  great  honor 
to  have  assisted,  at  least  in  some  degree,  in  at  last  making  further 
misunderstanding  of  Mr.  Herndon  impossible  to  those  who  care  to 
be  just. 

Herndon  was  of  a  pro-slavery  family,  but  was  set  on  fire  by 
the  murder  of  Lovejoy,  being  at  that  time  a  student  in  the  Illinois 
College  at  Jacksonville.  When  the  students  of  that  institution— 
whose  president,  Edward  Beecher,  was  a  friend  of  Lovejoy — held 
an  indignation  meeting,  Herndon  forgot  his  family  bias,  denounced 
the  mob  spirit  that  murdered  Lovejoy,  and  became  from_  that  day 
to  the  end  of  the  long  struggle  an  enthusiastic  and  radical  aboli- 
tionist. 


146 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Early  in  the  forties  Mr.  Lincoln  induced  this  young"  man  to  study 
law,  and  afterwards  took  him  into  partnership.  Even  at  that  time, 
as  early  as  1843,  Herndon  was  consorting  with  abolitionists,  read- 
ing all  the  fulminations  of  agitators,  and  occasionally  writing  let- 
ters to  the  radical  leaders  in  the  East.  But  it  was  not  until  1848 
that  he  became  interested  in  the  work  of  Theodore  Parker.  The 
same  force  that  exploded  the  pro-slavery  feeling  in  Herndon  ex- 
ploded at  the  same  time  his  faith  in  the  theology  that  had  been 
taught  him  as  a  boy;  and  thus  by  a  double  tie  he  was  bound  to 
Parker.  There  was  something  in  the  spirit  of  Parker,  in  his  cast 
of  mind,  in  the  vividness  of  his  nature  that  appealed  strongly  to 
Herndon.  He  became  a  reader  of  the  sermons  and  addresses  of 
Parker,  keeping  a  scrapbook  in  which  to  preserve  them. 

About  this  time,  1849-50,  when  the  great  debate  was  going 
on  which  finally  found  focus  in  the  Senate  and  resulted  in  the 
compromise  of  1850,  Herndon  succeeded  in  getting  Abraham  Lin- 
coln interested  in  some  of  the  addresses  of  Parker.  The  eloquence 
of  Parker,  however,  was  not  of  a  kind  to  appeal  to  Lincoln,  who 
was  a  severe  economist  in  the  use  of  words.  Every  word  used  by 
Lincoln  was  pondered,  weighed,  measured,  and  brooded  over.  He 
was  a  man  of  extraordinarily  conservative  cast  of  mind.  If  you 
made  a  statement  to  him,  he  would  discount  it  fifty  per  cent  and 
accept  the  rest  as  probably  true.  He  saw  everything  for  less  than 
it  was.  So  that  the  buoyant,  wide-ranging,  vivid  oratory  of  Parker 
— a  style  adopted  by  him  for  the  purpose  of  stirring  up  the  public 
mind — did  not  sway  Lincoln  as  it  did  Herndon. 

For  example,  when  Parker  delivered  his  "Sermon  Occasioned 
by  the  Death  of  Webster,"  Herndon  induced  Lincoln  to  read  it. 
No  doubt  all  of  us  will  agree  with  Goldwin  Smith  that  that  ser- 
mon was  the  finest  efflorescence  of  anti-slavery  eloquence ;  but  Lin- 
coln felt  that  Parker  had  been  unjust  to  Webster,  and  Lincoln  was 
right.  Reference  has  been  made  this  afternoon  to  "the  7th  of 
March"  speech  of  Webster,  which  has  for  many  years  been  re- 
garded as  an  apostasy  on  his  part  from  a  great  cause.  Yet  had 
Lincoln  stood  at  that  time  in  the  shoes  of  Webster,  he  would  have 
made  much  the  same  speech.  Parker  himself  held  that  if  any  State 
wished  to  go  out  of  the  Union,  it  had  a  right  to  do  so.  He  seems 
to  have  modified  that  opinion  towards  the  end  of  his  life,  but  he 
did  not  realize  what  Webster  had  done  for  his  country  in  his  great 
speeches  in  the  late  thirties  and  early  forties.  Those  speeches 
formed  a  sea-wall  against  which  the  angry  tides  of  secession  beat 
in  vain.  But  Lincoln  understood,  and  to  him  Webster  was  ever  the 
model  orator,  as  Clay  was  the  model  statesman. 

Later,  in  the  joint  debates  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas, 
Parker  thought  that  Lincoln  got  the  worst  of  the  debate  at  Ottawa 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 147 

— not  understanding  the  local  situation  in  Illinois,  although  Hern- 
don,  in  a  remarkable  letter,  had  drawn  for  him  a  political  map  of 
the  State.  He  did  not  understand  that  Lincoln  had  to  pick  his  way 
between  two  extremes,  that  he  had  to  retain  the  support  of  men 
like  Owen  Love  joy  and  yet  command  the  enthusiasm  of  men  who 
regarded  Lovejoy  as  a  fanatic.  Nor  did  he  understand  that  Lincoln 
was  far  from  being  an  abolitionist. 

Shortly  after  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  which 
stirred  the  nation  to  its  depths,  Herndon  began  a  correspondence 
with  Theodore  Parker — his  ideal  orator,  agitator,  and  theologian. 
This  correspondence  continued,  letters  passing  to  and  fro,  until 
Parker  left  the  country  and  became  a  wandering  seeker  after  health 
in  1859.  By  a  rare  fortune  that  correspondence  has  come  into  my 
possession,  and  it  makes  many  things  plain  which  hitherto  have 
been  dim.  Herndon  was  keeping  Parker  informed  as  to  the  tides 
and  currents  of  politics  in  the  West,  while  Mr.  Parker  was  keeping 
him  in  touch  with  the  way  the  wind  was  blowing  in  the  East.  So 
here  we  have  letters  going  to  Theodore  Parker  from  the  office  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  and  we  have  on  the  other  side  letters,  sermons 
and  addresses  going  from  the  study  of  Parker  to  the  dingy  back 
office  in  Springfield.  This  is  the  connecting  tie  between  Parker 
and  Lincoln.  In  these  letters  Mr.  Parker  more  than  once  expressed 
good  will  and  good  cheer  to  Lincoln ;  at  other  times  his  disapproval 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  course.  As  has  been  said,  when  Parker  read  the 
speeches  made  in  the  debate  at  Ottawa,  he  wrote  to  Herndon, 
saying  that  "Webster  stood  on  higher  ground  as  to  slavery  than 
Abraham  Lincoln  does  now." 

Many  of  the  sermons  and  speeches  of  Parker  were  read  by 
Lincoln,  and  some  of  their  phrases  fastened  themselves  in  his  mind. 
You  are  familiar,  of  course,  with  the  history  of  the  famous  phrase 
which  he  enshrined  in  the  Gettysburg  address. 

Just  what  influence  Parker  had  upon  Lincoln  it  would  not  be 
easy  to  describe.  Some  have  tried  to  trace  some  influence  of  Em- 
erson upon  Lincoln,  but  as  a  fact  Lincoln  did  not  understand  Emer- 
son at  all.  To  a  mind  like  that  of  Lincoln,  Emerson  was  too 
ethereal,  but  he  did  understand  Parker,  though  not  sympathizing 
with  his  radical  proposals  for  dealing  with  slavery. 

Lincoln  did  not  expect  to  live  to  see  slavery  fall,  while  Parker 
was  one  of  the  few  men — very  few — who  expected  to  see  it  fall 
during  his  lifetime.  Therefore  he  watched  the  course  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln with  great  interest  and  hope,  especially  during  the  great  de- 
bates with  Douglas.  At  that  time  no  one  had  thought  of  Lincoln 
for  the  Presidency.  Though  Herndon  and  Parker  discuss  presi- 
dential possibilities  in  their  letters,  they  do  not  mention  the  name 
of  Lincoln  for  that  office  until  after  the  debates.     Parker  was  a 


148 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

partisan  of  William  H.  Seward,  whom  he  regarded  as  the  ablest, 
most  experienced,  most  brilliant  figure  upon  the  scene.  His  second 
choice  was  Governor  Chase  of  Ohio.  He  does  not  seem  to  have 
thought  of  Lincoln  as  a  possibility  for  the  Presidency  until  after 
the  Cooper  Institute  address.  It  was  that  memorable  exegesis  of 
the  Constitution,  with  its  gentle  firmness  of  attitude  toward  the 
South,  conciliatory,  yet  unwilling  to  compromise,  that  won,  not 
only  Theodore  Parker,  but  Henry  Ward  Beecher  to  favor  Lincoln 
for  the  Presidency.  Parker  was  at  this  time  abroad,  but  from  afar 
he  watched  the  scene  in  his  native  land,  which  became  every  day 
more  turbulent,  and  the  western  lawyer  loomed  in  his  vision  as  the 
one  great  man  to  meet  that  critical  hour. 

The  Herndon-Parker  letters  speak  of  the  Civil  War  in  a  way 
almost  uncanny,  six  years  before  it  came.  Parker  had  always  a 
fancy  for  prediction — a  prophet,  indeed,  in  this  respect,  as  well  as 
in  others.  Writing  to  a  friend  in  1856,  he  remarks,  calmly,  as 
though  it  were  a  matter  of  fact:  "Fremont  will  be  nominated 
tomorrow.  I  think  he  will  be  elected ;  then  the  trouble  is  settled 
peacefully.  If  he  is  not  elected,  then  the  Union  goes  to  pieces  in 
five  years — not  without  blood."     And  that  prediction  came  true. 

Something  has  been  said  this  afternoon  about  the  waste  of 
power  in  agitation.  Lincoln  regarded  the  agitation  by  extremists 
as  not  only  a  waste  of  power,  but  an  aggravation  of  the  difficulty. 
It  was  the  anti-slavery  agitation  in  the  North,  as  a  matter  of  simple 
fact,  that  destroyed  the  emancipation  party  in  the  South.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln stood  midway  between  the  radicals  of  the  North  and  the 
radicals  of  the  South,  himself  a  child  of  the  South  and  a  leader  of 
the  North.  Without  detracting  an  iota  from  the  genius  and  serv- 
ice of  such  men  as  Parker,  Garrison  and  Phillips — splendid  men, 
all  of  them — it  is  yet  true  that  it  was  the  quality  of  leadership 
found  in  Lincoln  that  made  it  possible  for  the  Union  to  exist  as  it 
does  today;  a  Union  not  only  in  name,  but  in  spirit. 

Let  a  word  be  added  about  religion.  Lincoln,  in  this  matter, 
has  been  greatly  misinterpreted,  as  it  seems  to  me.  I  do  not  mean 
to  intimate  that  I  understand  him — not  at  all.  You  recall  the  dear 
old  woman  in  George  Eliot's  "Mill  on  the  Floss"  who,  when  dying, 
was  in  real  distress  knowing  that  her  husband  would  not  be  able  to 
find  the  key  to  the  blue  closet  up  stairs.  There  was  a  blue  closet 
in  the  soul  of  Lincoln,  and  he  took  the  key  with  him  when  he  went 
out  of  the  world.  In  regard  to  religious  questions  he  was  reticent, 
though  positive  in  his  denial  of  certain  dogmas  of  the  crude  theol- 
ogy of  his  day.  All  who  stood  near  him  felt  that  in  a  mystic  and 
poetic  way  he  was  deeply  religious,  but  I  feel  justified  in  saying 
that  Lincoln  could  not  have  accepted  the  theology  of  Theodore 
Parker.    The  facile  optimism  of  Parker  was  very  far  from  his  cast 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 149 

of  mind ;  he  felt  "the  fang  bf  things,"  as  William  James  would 
say,  far  more  keenly  than  Parker  did. 

As  a  fact,  Lincoln  thought  as  if  no  one  had  ever  thought  be- 
fore him,  and  was  hardly  at  all  indebted  to  the  labors  of  other 
minds.  He  took  nothing  for  granted,  and  that  is  why,  religiously 
speaking,  he  had  no  wings ;  though,  amid  the  awful  ordeal  of  war, 
when  he  himself  became  a  sacrificial  figure,  his  very  face  wearing 
the  sorrow  of  a  nation  torn  and  bleeding  of  heart,  he  came  to  feel 
that  the  Fate,  which  as  a  young  man  had  seemed  deaf  and  dumb, 
was  more  personal  and  more  responsive  to  human  appeal.  While 
in  spirit  Lincoln  was  a  Christian,  if  ever  there  was  a  Christian, 
he  was  not  a  Christian  in  his  philosophy  of  life.  He  did  not  enjoy 
those  "escapings  of  ecstatic  souls,"  of  which  Elizabeth  Browning 
speaks,  and  of  which  she  was  so  radiant  an  example  in  her  own 
life.  Lincoln  lived  in  a  dun-colored  world,  responsive  to  its  plain- 
tive, minor  note,  under  a  sky  as  gray  as  a  tired  face.  To  his 
lonely,  brooding  mind  the  sunny  upland  where  Theodore  Parker 
dwelt  was  an  unknown  country. 

The  very  contrast  between  the  two  men  makes  such  a  study 
all  the  more  interesting;  but  I  shall  not  detain  you  further,  except 
to  say  that  we  may  now  trace  the  influence,  through  the  medium  of 
Herndon,  of  Parker  upon  Lincoln,  and — may  we  not  say? — of 
Lincoln  upon  Parker.  Had  Parker  lived,  he  would  have  been  a 
tower  of  strength  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  understood  the  work- 
ings of  practical  politics  far  better  than  many  other  radicals  under- 
stood them,  and  I  think  he  would  have  had  more  patience  with 
Lincoln  than  some  of  the  abolitionists  had  during  the  war. 

They  were  soldiers  in  the  wars  of  God,  and  to  each  his  exceed- 
ing great  reward. 


Mr.  White:  I  have  mercifully  refrained  from  making 
speeches,  as  I  have  as  presiding  officer  of  this  meeting  a  perfect 
right  to  do,  and  I  am  going  to  mercifully  refrain  from  making  a 
speech  now.  However,  this  I  may  hastily  say,  that  one  of  the  chief 
things  in  Theodore  Parker  which  I  have  always  admired  was  his 
fighting  quality.  I  like  him  because  he  was  a  fighter  when  fighters 
were  needed.  When  Theodore  Parker,  if  the  statements  are  true, 
took  down  the  picture  of  Daniel  Webster  from  his  study  wall, 
kissed  it  and  turned  its  face  to  the  wall,  he  did  an  admirable  thing. 
Theodore  Parker  on  the  platform  of  Music  Hall,  fighting  slavery 
and  the  aggressions  of  the  slave  power,  commands  my  respect. 

I  admire  as  much  as  the  last  speaker  can  the  qualities  of  gentle- 
ness and  peace  and  patience.  They  have  their  place  in  the  great 
world,  but  there  are  times,  my  friends,  when  the  Thors  with  their 
hammers  are  worth  more  to  the  forces  of  reform  than  an  army  of 


150 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

men  with  peaceful  words.  No  man  ever  admired  James  Freeman 
Clark  more  than  myself.  As  a  student  I  haunted  his  church  in 
Boston  nearly  every  Sunday  morning.  The  gentleness  of  the  man 
fascinated  me.  But  I  believe  that  if  James  Freeman  Clark  with 
his  gentle  hatred  of  the  old  theology^  on  the  one  hand  and  of  South- 
ern slavery  on  the  other,  had  been  multiplied  into  a  thousand  men, 
he  could  not  have  done,  under  the  circumstances  and  in  the  condi- 
tions that  then  existed,  for  the  pro-slavery  movement  what  Theo- 
dore Parker  did.  I  admire  Phillips,  Garrison  and  Theodore  Parker 
because  when  there  was  any  fighting  to  be  done,  they  were  not 
dainty  in  their  words.  Men,  even  when  they  felt  aggrieved  by 
their  exaggeration,  were  led  to  consider  the  great  problems. 

I  like  Theodore  Parker  for  many  things,  but  I  like  him  best 
because  he  was  unsparing  in  his  denunciation  of  the  things  that  he 
thought  wrong. 

Dr.  Jones  is  just  dying  to  do  something  or  say  something.  I 
don't  know  what  it  is,  but  I  take  great  pleasure  in  introducing  one 
to  whom  we  are  under  more  obligation  than  to  any  other  man  for 
this  series  of  Parker  meetings  in  Chicago. 

Mr.  Jones:  I  just  rise  in  the  line  of  my  perennial  secretary- 
ship to  make  an  announcement. 

If  there  is  an  opportunity  given  to  me  among  the  angels  I 
shall  expect  to  make  an  announcement,  and  if  there  is  any 
•work  for  me  on  the  other  side,  it  will  probably  be  in  the  way  of 
getting  up  a  convention. 

Now,  as  we  are  coming  to  the  end  of  this  series  of  meetings, 
perhaps  it  will  be  interesting  information  for  you  if  I  give  you  just 
two  or  three  items  connected  with  this  work. 

When  the  program  is  realized,  as  it  is  now  approaching  to  an 
end,  we  will  find  that  the  central  management  has  provided  for 
meetings  during  this  week  in  fourteen  different  places,  reaching 
from  the  University  of  Chicago  to  the  heart  of  the  Northwestern 
University  in  Evanston ;  from  Orchestra  Hall,  with  its  audience  of 
over  three  thousand,  to  the  Outlook  Club,  which  gathered  together 
some  sixty  ministers. 

Besides  that,  perhaps  as  many  more  ministers  have  been  speak- 
ing the  name  of  Parker  this  week  with  love  and  reverence. 

Assurances  have  come  to  the  office  that  at  least  this  tribute 
has  been  paid,  from  Galveston,  Texas,  to  Columbus,  Ohio.  Some 
twenty-four  different  speakers  have  more  or  less  revealed  them- 
selves in  this  series  of  meetings.  Twelve  or  more  of  them  have 
come  from  afar,  representing  a  range  which  always  surprises  me. 

We  have  had  a  message  out  of  the  heart  of  the  Catholic 
church,    and    more    expressions    than    one    out    of    the    heart    of 


SECOND  LINCOLN  CENTRE  MEETING 151. 

Judaism.  The  tenderest  and  most  glowing,  and,  to  me,  the  most 
exquisite  tribute  to  Theodore  Parker  comes  from  a  man  who  stands 
high  in  the  confidences  of  and  holds  a  conspicuous  position  in  the 
Methodist  church.     [See  page  5.] 

We  have  had  not  only  this  wide  range  of  theological  com- 
plexion, but  yesterday  we  stood  entranced  here  while  we  heard 
the  beautiful,  the  proud  declarations  of  a  man  of  color.  Another 
man  from  the  South  on  the  program  regretted  the  exigencies 
which  prevented  his  being  here  to  sit  next  to  this  colored  man  from 
Arkansas,  and  speak  at  the  same  hour,  which  was  as  I  had 
planned  it,  and  I  am  profoundly  moved  in  the  contemplation  of 
the  fact  that  to  a  "Son  of  the  South,"  as  he  calls  himself,  was 
made  the  one  fresh  contribution  of  Lincoln  literature  of  the  last 
decade.  Tomorrow  morning,  as  he  wakes  up  in  the  early  dawn, 
crossing  the  Mississippi  river,  he  will  probably  look  out  upon  the 
fortress  where  his  father  suffered  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  still 
to  him  has  been  given  the  insight  and  the  power  and  the  opportu- 
nity to  explore  into  neglected  realms  of  the  Lincoln  literature,  hid- 
den passages  in  the  political  life  of  Lincoln's  time;  to  reinstate  in 
my  affections  and  in  that  of  thousands  of  others,  the  man  whom 
Lincoln  leaned  upon,  loved  and  trusted  to  the  end,  his  faithful 
junior  partner — "self-effacing"  is  the  word  this  man  wisely  uses, 
the  "self-effacing  Billy  Hemdon." 

And  so  when  I  think  of  all  this,  I  can  but  feel  that  this  attempt 
now  to  speak  deliberately  and  wisely  and  lovingly  the  name  of  him 
who  was  buried  in  far  off  Florence  fifty  years  ago,  and  who  was 
bom  into  the  home  of  that  Revolutionary  grandfather  one  hundred 
years  ago,  has  not  been  made  in  vain  in  the  city  of  Chicago. 


ttlli^  lanqurt,  Aubitnrium  l|ntel 

®l|«rH&aa  Suptitng,  Nmipmbrr  IT,  19 in 


THE  BANQUET  155 


at  the 

®l|fobiir0  Parker  iH?mnnal  ISanqurt 

Auditorium  Hotel,  Chicago 
November  17, 1910 


Mr.  Chas.  L.  Hutchinson  {Chairman  of  Banquet  Commit- 
tee, introduced  by  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones)  :  The  toastmaster,  although 
he  has  not  yet  been  introduced,  and  has  no  right  to  lay  down  rules, 
has  informed  me  that  even  the  chairman  must  confine  his  speech 
to  three  minutes. 

In  the  vocabulary  of  Theodore  Parker  there  was  no  such  word 
as  "fear,"  and  why  should  one  hesitate  to  stand  before  this  audi- 
ence, even  though  he  be  not  an  orator,  to  testify  by  his  presence, 
if  not  by  his  eloquence,  his  high  esteem  of  the  great  and  noble 
work  of  that  great  man.  And  so  I  unhesitatingly  accepted  the  part 
assigned  to  me  tonight ;  since  it  is  absolutely  a  superfluous  one,  and 
where  there  is  nothing  expected,  it  is  impossible  to  disappoint. 

I  am  not  the  toastmaster,  and  have  no  right  to  introduce  any- 
body, but  one  of  our  speakers,  Mrs.  Young,  must  take  a  train 
shortly,  and  I  will  therefore  take  upon  myself  the  pleasure  of 
introducing  to  this  audience  Mrs.  Ella  Flagg  Young. 

MvB,  aia  Jlags  Soung 

Chicago 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — I  shall  take  only  a 
moment  or  two  and  that  will  be  to  leave  here  a  bit  of  advice  that 
I  gave  to  a  number  of  women  and  men  within  the  last  week. 

We  were  discussing  the  ethics  of  a  situation  and  I  thought  that 
although  they  were  all  people  holding,  as  we  say,  advanced  views 
with  regard  to  the  ethical  relations  that  exist  between  people,  that 
somehow  the  note  sounded  very  familiar,  as  one  that  I  had  heard 
in  my  childhood,  and  I  said  to  them,  "When  I  was  a  little  girl,  one 
time  I  was  passing  a  Unitarian  church,  and  a  person  who  was  with 
me,  an  adult,  said,  'A  very  bad  man  is  going  to  speak  in  that 
church  tonight;  his  name  is  Theodore  Parker;  you  must  not  go  to 
hear  him.'  " 

I  said  to  these  men  and  women:  "This  coming  week  all 
Chicago  people  and  people  outside  of  Chicago  will  be  doing  honor 
to  the  name,  to  the  memory  of  that  man  who,  when  I  was  a  child, 
was  spoken  of  by  a  good  woman  as  being  a  bad  man.  As  we  are 
confronted  by  these  problems  in  the  life  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  our 


156 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

high  schools,  do  not  let  us  make  the  mistake  that  was  made  in  my 
childhood,  so  that  fifty  years  from  now  it  may  be  said  of  us  that  we 
were  supposed  to  be  good  men  and  women,  but  we  were  bad  men 
and  women,  because  we  did  not  show  the  intelligence  and  the  cour- 
age to  forecast  what  might  be  the  condition  in  our  high  schools  and 
to  meet  that  condition  today  instead  of  fifty  years  from  today." 
The  application,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  trust,  is  apparent. 


Mr.  Hutchinson  :  The  American  banquet  is  a  strange  affair. 
When  I  was  a  boy  we  had  a  one-ringed  circus,  one  ringmaster  and 
one  clown.  Now  no  circus  would  dare  go  before  a  community  with 
any  expectation  or  hope  of  success  without  three  of  each ;  so  now 
we  have  to  have  the  minister  introduce  the  chairman  and  the  chair- 
man introduce  the  toastmaster. 

I  have  often  felt,  and  I  feel  tonight  like  the  city  boy  who  went 
into  the  country  to  work  on  a  farm,  and  he  thought  he  knew  it  all, 
and  the  farmer  took  him  to  assist  him  in  stacking  a  pile  of  hay,  and 
when  the  stack  of  hay  was  up,  up  pretty  high,  and  the  boy  was  on 
top — the  work  was  all  finished — he  began  to  wonder  how  he  was 
going  to  get  down,  so  he  said,  "Say,  mister,  how  am  I  going  to 
get  down?"  And  the  farmer  said,  "Just  shut  your  eyes  and  walk 
around  two  or  three  minutes." 

P^or  a  man  in  my  position  tonight,  to  speak  before  a  toast- 
master,  is  literally  absurd,  and  particularly  this  toastmaster, 
for  he  is  better  known  to  you  than  I  am,  and  he  is  more  able  to 
speak  for  himself  than  I  am  to  speak  for  him,  and  it  is  only  mod- 
esty— I  won't  say  it  is  false  modesty — that  prevents  him  from  tak- 
ing the  charge  of  this  meeting  without  any  ceremony  and  imme- 
diately making  a  success  of  the  evening,  with  the  help  of  the  other 
speakers  at  least. 

I  cannot  help  but  express  the  thought  that  comes  to  me,  what 
would  Theodore  i'arker  have  thought  in  his  life,  if  a  Methodist 
preacher's  son,  one  of  the  most  eminent  divines  in  the  country,  was 
called  upon  and  was  willing  to  preside  at  a  banquet  in  his  honor. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  introduce  him ;  we  are  very 
fortunate  in  having  the  toastmaster  with  us  here  tonight,  and 
I  am  not  going  to  tell  you  of  his  ability,  you  know  it,  and  you  will 
come  at  the  close  of  the  meeting  and  tell  me  how  fortunate  we  are 
that  we  have  such  a  man  to  preside  over  us.  It  is  a  pleasure  to 
present  George  E.  Vincent  as  the  toastmaster  of  the  evening. 

The  Toastmaster:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — As  the  third 
ringmaster  of  this  interesting  circus,  I  now  proceed  to  snap  the 
whip. 

You  realize  that  the  three-ringed  circus  is  immensely  charac- 
teristic of  the  United  States ;  you  realize  that  the  three-ringed  circus 
which  makes  the  American  citizen  cross-eyed,  is  necessary  for  the 


THE  BANQUET  157 


public  as  well  as  the  private  man  in  these  days ;  no  single  perform- 
ance will  satisfy  his  ideals. 

Fortunately  this  is  a  one-ringed  circus,  or  at  least  one  ring  at 
a  time.  Allusion  has  been  made  to  the  highly  orthodox  character 
of  my  ancestry  and  presumably  of  my  own  views.  I  want  no  mis- 
understanding; I  am  here  to  pay  due  homage  and  respect  to  the 
distinguished  man  in  whose  memory  we  meet,  but  at  the  same  time 
I  wish  you  to  realize  that  I  am  here  in  a  purely  missionary  spirit. 
When  the  opportunity  was  offered  to  me  to  come  here  to  be  the 
one  orthodox  among  all  these  heterodox  people,  and,  in  fact,  when 
it  became  necessary  for  myself  to  become  heterodox  in  this  distin- 
guished company,  the  temptation  was  too  great  to  be  resisted.  I 
am  not  here  in  an  intolerant  spirit;  I  still  believe  that  you  have 
some  chance.  My  position  is  very  accurately  described  by  a  story 
told  of  an  intensely  loyal  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
church,  who,  also  acting  in  a  missionary  spirit,  was  laboring  with 
a  certain  party,  and  among  other  things  the  other  party  said,  "Do 
you  mean  to  say  that  your  church  presents  the  only  way  of  salva- 
tion?" "Well,"  said  the  High  Churchman,  "I  suppose  there  are 
other  ways,  but  no  gentleman  would  take  advantage  of  them." 

So  I  wish  you  to  realize  that  I  am  here  in  no  intolerant  spirit, 
but  hoping  to  do  some  good  in  a  quiet  way,  as  the  evening  goes 
on,  as  it  seems  probable  it  will  go  on, — indefinitely.  I  shall  have  to 
take  a  train  at  eleven  o'clock  and  my  function  will  revert  to  the 
second  ringmaster,  but  you  will  understand  that  my  leaving  will 
not  be  any  reflection  on  the  character  of  the  addresses. 

The  rule  we  have  laid  down  this  evening  is  a  three-minute 
rule.  That  may  seem  ungracious,  but  my  own  function  and  duty 
is,  by  concentrating  attention  upon  this  fact,  by  reiterating,  dwelling 
upon  the  point,  to  hope  thereby  to  set  up  in  the  minds  of  the  speak- 
ers such  consciousness  of  guilt  the  moment  they  step  beyond  the 
time  limit,  as  will  lead  them  to  emulate  each  other  in  brevity — in 
other  words,  to  say  something  sententious  in  a  sentence. 

I  would  say  as  to  the  fourteen  or  fifteen  who  are  to  address 
you  that  they  have  all  agreed  to  withdraw  their  preliminary  re- 
marks ;  not  one  will  give  expression  to  diffidence,  not  one  will 
"regret  to  occupy  your  time,"  not  one  of  them  will  indulge  in  a 
preamble  which  is  much  longer  than  the  address.  They  will  go 
instantly  to  the  meat  of  the  matter  and  we  can  imagine  if  Theo- 
dore Parker  were  looking  on,  how  his  keen  humor  would  appreci- 
ate such  a  situation ;  if  they  told  good  stories  he  would  enjoy 
them;  if  they  grew  rhetorical  he  would  probably  think  how  much 
better  he  could  do  it.  If  they  describe  reform,  his  heart  would 
kindle,  and  if  they  say  something  unorthodox,  speaking  of  the 
orthodoxy  of  his  time,  not  of  these  times — there  is  a  very  great 
difference — but  if  any  of  these  speakers  were  contemporaneously 
unorthodox,  Theodore  Parker  would  heartily  approve. 


158 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

The  program  has  been  made  up.  I  am  not  responsible  for 
it,  but  so  far  as  I  can  judge,  eight  or  ten  people  from  Boston  have 
been  diluted  with  a  few  people  from  the  Middle  West.  It  is  a 
little  embarrassing  to  have  to  put  on  anybody  from  the  Mississippi 
Valley  when  New  England  could  so  palpably  handle  the  whole  sit- 
uation— we  have  such  reverence  and  awe  for  anything  that  comes 
from  Boston.  I  hope  our  friends  from  Boston  will  not  misin- 
terpret our  failure  to  include  on  this  program  only  those  within  the 
three-mile  limit  from  the  Boston  State  House. 

I  will  say  full  reports  of  these  addresses  will  appear  in  print 
later  on ;  in  other  words,  that  is  planned  for,  but  we  shall  not  fol- 
low the  example  of  congressmen  who  get  up  to  address  the  speaker 
and  then  simply  hand  their  addresses  to  the  clerk  for  printing 
without  reading. 

I  have  occupied  just  three  minutes,  and  I  expect  to  occupy  just 
three  minutes  in  connection  with  each  address. 

Of  course,  we  must  strike  just  the  right  note  at  the  outset  and 
just  now  I  am  glad  to  strike  the  Bostonian  note.  I  know  of  no 
better  man  to  represent  Boston  than  the  distinguished  president 
of  the  Twentieth  Century  Club,  a  club  which  represents  all  that 
is  advanced  in  thought  and  action.  I  am  sure  we  will  listen  with 
the  utmost  pleasure  to  the  Rev.  Charles  F.  Dole,  of  Boston,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Twentieth  Century  Club. 

Boston,  Massachusetts 

Reverting  first  to  this  proposition  of  the  circus,  we  all  of  us 
have  been  served  with  notice,  and  in  this  notice  it  is  distinctly  told 
us  that  we  are  allowed  five  minutes  to  do  our  little  turn.  I  would 
like  to  ask  the  distinguished  toastmaster  if  he  is  not  confusing  his 
own  limit  of  time  with  that  which  is  given  to  the  speakers. 

I  wanted  to  call  your  attention  in  my  brief  three  or  five  min- 
utes to  one  of  the  most  interesting  aspects  of  Parker's  life. 
He  seems  to  me  to  embody  in  himself  very  beautifully  and  effect- 
ively the  idea  of  practical  ideals. 

You  often  hear  it  said  of  some  dreamer  or  visionary:  "Oh,  he 
is  an  idealist;  we  don't  expect  much  of  him." 

Parker,  from  the  very  beginning  of  his  life,  knew  all 
those  lower  practical  values  through  the  learning,  and  almost  only 
through  the  learning  of  which  he  arose  to  the  clear  understanding 
of  the  great  spiritual  values. 

The  idealist,  I  take  it,  simply  uses  his  intelligence  about  the 
h.igher  interests  of  men,  that  same  intelligence  which  he  also  uses 
and  normally  uses  about  all  those  plainer  concerns  which  give 
lessons  of  duty,  obligation,  responsibility,  mutual  helpfulness  and 
love,  which  we  understand  to  be  the  great  concerns  of  religion. 


THE  BANQUET  159 


It  is  interesting,  as  you  read  in  Parker's  Lives  to  see  this  ele- 
ment from  the  very  first ;  his  carefulness  in  boyhood  that  every 
obligation  and  debt  shall  be  paid,  that  he  shall  not  wrong  his  father 
by  using  time  that  belongs  to  him  in  getting  his  education. 

Later  you  will  find  that  he  was  often  consulted  by  people  as 
to  what  they  should  do  with  their  investments  and  you  will  find  a 
very  sagacious  rule  laid  down  about  investments,  namely,  never 
put  your  money  into  anything  where  you  have  not  taken  the  advice 
of  at  least  two  independent  judges  as  to  the  nature  of  the  invest- 
ment. 

Now,  I  believe,  contrary  to  what  is  often  understood,  that  this 
is  typical  in  idealism  always.  People  sometimes  appear  to  think 
that  it  is  a  very  rare  thing  when  idealism  and  good  practical  ability 
are  found  in  the  same  person.  I  say  it  is  the  normal  expectation  to 
find  these  things  combined.  Everything  in  this  universe  presses  to 
bring  about  harmony.  In  economics  we  are  finding  everywhere 
that  good  ethics  are  good  economics ;  we  are  learning  that  about 
child  labor,  about  crowded  house  conditions ;  we  are  everywhere 
learning  of  the  pressure  of  the  universe  to  bring  about  the  true 
harmony  of  law,  and  I  believe  it  is  immensely  interesting  and 
helpful. 

So  we  are  believers  in  the  great  democratic  idea  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  human  nature.  The  province  of  human  experience  is 
first  to  make  us  all  practical,  and  then  to  bring  us  through  the 
lessons  of  practical  affairs  to  the  higher  ranges  of  idealism.  I  ask 
if  you  do  not  find  that  at  those  times  when  you  are  exercising  your 
intelligence  on  the  highest  ranges,  when  the  good  spirit  possesses 
you,  the  spirit  of  mutual  aid  and  service,  the  spirit  of  trust  in  the 
universe,  the  spirit  of  faith  and  hope  and  good  will,  in  those  times, 
let  me  ask  you,  do  you  not  find  that  you  are  at  your  best  for  the 
exertion  of  your  intelligence  on  all  sorts  of  practical  problems  that 
present  themselves?  Then  you  will  have  your  wisest  moments, 
because  you  are  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  universe  and  you 
are  in  harmon.y  with  all  good  souls  who  are  working  for  the  higher 
things ;  you  are  in  harmony  with  all  the  great  laws  which  surely 
in  this  universe  work  together  for  the  manifestation  of  the  Sons 
of  God. 


The  Toastmaster:  I  call  the  attention  of  the  other  speakers 
to  the  admirable  model  which  has  been  set.  I  fancy  that  you  all 
have  your  prize  winner  in  mind  already. 

I  regret  to  say  in  connection  with  the  introduction  of  the  next 
speaker  that  the  old  theories  of  heredity  have  been  practically  dis- 
credited, so  that  in  introducing  to  you  the  grand-niece  of  Theodore 
Parker,  I  am  restrained  from  asserting  unequivocally  that  she  pos- 
sesses all  of  the  admirable  characteristics  of  that  great  man,  but  I 
am   sure  whether  you   accept  the  one  theory  of  heredity  or  the 


160 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

other,  you  will  be  very  glad  to  give  welcome  to  Miss  Gertrude 
Parker  Dingee,  the  grand-niece  of  Theodore  Parker. 


Chicago 

To  US  of  today  Theodore  Parker  is  not  a  man — he  is  more — 
he  is  a  time,  a  period,  a  crisis,  part  of  our  great  tradition.  To  his 
great  days  we  look  back  as  to  our  age  of  chivalry,  of  romance,  of 
great  heroes,  of  fiery  passions  and  of  a  veritable  holocaust  of  right- 
eousness !  Parker,  Emerson,  Garrison,  Wendell  Phillips,  Charles 
Sumner — the  list  is  long — names  to  conjure  with!  Against  those 
vast  canvasses  how  puny  our  efforts  seem,  how  insignificant  our 
ends !  Pure  food  and  tuberculosis  hospitals  against  Unitarianism 
and  the  Emancipation  Proclamation !  Garment  workers  against 
runaway  slaves !  This  is  the  day  after — the  prose  after  the  poetry ! 
And  we  are  the  generation  after,  gleaning  in  their  footsteps.  They 
did  it  all,  covered  the  whole  field,  or  nearly  so.  There  is  no  reform 
they  did  not  agitate — unless  it  be  spelling — I  am  not  sure  they 
thought  of  that ;  and  it  is  a  bit  discouraging  to  admit  that  there  is 
nothing  new  left  for  us  but  spelling. 

But  if  we  are  denied  the  crown,  we  are  spared  the  cross  of 
martyrdom ;  if  we  are  too  late  for  the  sowing,  we  are  in  plenty  of 
time  for  the  harvest,  and  while  we  long  for  a  chance  to  win  some 
of  the  glory  they  monopolized,  we  can  comfort  ourselves  by  shar- 
ing the  results  of  their  toil,  for  the  whole  level  of  human  life  and 
human  thought  has  been  raised  by  their  efforts.  Parker's  epoch- 
making  sermons  sound  to  us  so  mild,  so  sane,  so  altogether  self- 
evident.  We  marvel  at  the  storm  they  raised ;  but  the  thoughts 
they  set  forth,  and  still  more  the  attitude  of  mind  for  which  they 
plead,  have  become  so  much  a  part  of  our  intellectual  and  spiritual 
life  that  we  take  it  as  much  for  granted  as  the  air  we  breathe. 

But  the  testimony  of  those  who  knew  Theodore  Parker  in  the 
flesh  is  chiefly  as  to  his  vivid  personality.  To  the  sweetness,  the 
helpfulness,  the  cheerfulness  of  his  presence  all  bear  witness. 
Those  who  heard  him  preach,  though  it  were  only  once,  never  for- 
got the  experience.  They  speak  of  it  today  with  bated  breath  and 
tell  it  to  their  children ;  it  constitutes  their  chief  claim  to  distinc- 
tion. And  all  of  us  who  in  any  personal  way  have  touched  that 
thrilling  past  of  which  he  was  a  part,  whose  household  words  have 
been  those  mighty  names,  whose  family  stories  have  been  the  tales 
they  told,  have  no  more  precious  heritage.  We  rarely  speak  of  it ; 
it  is  too  deep  for  words,  and  our  daily  tasks  demand  our  daily 
attention;  but  when,  in  the  vast  spaces  of  the  west,  far  from  the 
scenes  of  their  labors,  we  meet  one  of   similar  memories,   we  are 


THE  BANQUET  161 


at  once  conscious  of  a  bond  far  closer  than  that  of  mere  personal 
acquaintance ;  we  are  drawn  together  by  our  common  separation 
from  those  who  knew  not  Zion, 

Those  days  are  past;  the  stage  is  cleared. 

Old    Nature    sets    another    play 

With    other    cast    of    players. 

But  by   that  past    she    measures   us; 

The   pace   is   set;   the   Great  Tradition 

Spurs  us  on,  and  lends  us   strength 

For    ever    greater    effort. 

Not  through  imposing  hands  alone 

Does  the  spirit  pass.     Words,  too. 

Their  power  have;  great  names 

Evolve   their    one    time    personality, 

And    sound    agam    across    the    gulf    of   years 

Their    trumpet    note,    their    clarion    call, 

So   his   whose   memory  tonight   you  honor. 


The  Toastmaster:  It  is  a  dangerous  thing  in  these  days  to 
say  anything  in  public  of  judges.  If  we  compliment  them  we  throw 
ourselves  open  to  the  suspicion  of  seeking  favor;  if  you  tell  the 
truth  about  them,  you  put  your  hands  upon  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
of  our  liberty,  but  now  and  then  even  in  these  days  there  is  a  judge 
who  takes  his  nose  out  of  the  law  books  long  enough  to  look  about 
him,  to  see  the  world  of  live  men  and  women,  to  interpret  his  times 
and  to  realize  that  the  laws  and  the  machinery  of  government  serve 
the  ends  of  man  rather  than  the  ends  in  themselves. 

Such  a  judge  we  always  welcome,  and  such  a  judge  we  wel- 
come tonight  in  Judge  Julian  W.  Mack. 

iSim,  Julian  ffl9.  ilark 

Chicago 

Mr.  Toastmaster,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — I  was  reading  today 
a  book  published  by  one  of  the  speakers  at  these  anniversaries, 
the  Rev.  Joseph  F.  Newton,  on  Lincoln  and  Herndon,  a  magnificent 
volume,  which  contains  the  correspondence  of  Theodore  Parker 
and  William  H.  Herndon.  I  found  some  things  there  that  I  am 
going  to  read  to  you,  because  they  illustrate  what  Theodore  Parker 
would  be  standing  for  on  some  of  the  vital  questions  of  today. 

One  of  these  questions  in  which  I  personally  have  always  had 
the  deepest  interest  is  the  problem  of  the  immigrant.  Where  would 
he  stand  today  on  that  question?  Would  he  be,  like  so  many  from 
Massachusetts,  a  restrictionist,  ready  to  close  the  doors  of  this 
great  country  and  keep  the  opportunities  of  American  liberty  for 
us  and  our  children,  or  would  he  as  a  liberal  stand  for  the  open 
door,  stand  for  the  old-time  American  doctrine,  that  this  country 
shall  always  be  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed? 

Herndon  shows  the  influence  of  the  great  man  whose  memory 
we   revere   tonight   on   that   still   greater   man   of   his   generation. 


162 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Abraham  Lincoln.  Perhaps  in  Abraham  Lincoln's  views  on  this 
problem  we  can  trace,  in  a  measure,  the  influence  of  the  views  of 
Theodore  Parker.  Herndon  is  quoted  in  this  book  as  saying: 
"You  will  find  on  my  table  the  addresses  and  utterances  of  Gid- 
dings,  Phillips,  Sumner,  Seward,  and  one  whom  I  consider  greater 
than  all  the  others,  Theodore  Parker.  Lincoln  and  I  both  read 
those  I  have  named,  and  after  reading  them,  we  discussed  the 
questions  they  touched  upon  and  the  ideas  they  suggested.'' 

Perhaps  in  a  measure  it  was  the  influence  of  this  great  man 
that  caused  Lincoln  to  give  his  reply  to  the  Know-Nothing  party 
committee  that  waited  upon  him  and  tendered  him  the  nomination 
lor  representative  after  he  had  been  nominated  by  the  Whigs.  The 
interview  was  brief;  Lincoln  said:  "Who  were  the  native  Ameri- 
cans? Did  they  not  wear  the  breech-clout  and  carry  the  tomahawk? 
We  pushed  them  from  their  homes  and  now  turn  upon  others  not 
fortunate  enough  to  have  come  over  so  early  as  we  or  our  fore- 
fathers. Gentlemen  of  the  committee,  your  party  is  wrong  in  prin- 
ciple." And  a  little  later  in  a  letter  to  Speed,  he  said,  "I  am  not 
a  Know-Nothing,  that  is  certain.  How  could  I  be?  How  can  one 
who  abhors  the  oppression  of  negroes  be  in  favor  of  degrading 
classes  of  white  people?  When  the  Know-Nothings  get  control, 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  will  read,  'All  men  are  created 
equal,  except  negroes  and  foreigners.'  When  it  comes  to  this,  I 
shall  prefer  emigrating  to  some  country  where  they  make  no  pre- 
tense of  loving  liberty — ^to  Russia,  for  instance,  where  despotism 
can  be  taken  pure  and  without  the  base  alloy  of  hypocrisy." 

And  today,  if  Theodore  Parker  or  Abraham  Lincoln  were 
here,  the  danger  that  we  are  facing  in  this  country  from  a  growing 
spirit  of  selfishness  and  Know-Nothingism,  of  denying  to  the  op- 
pressed of  the  world  the  great  privileges  that  we  and  our  forefathers 
have  enjoyed,  of  denying  to  them  that  which  we  want  for  our  own 
children,  this  danger  would  be  lessened.  If  the  spirit  of  Theodore 
Parker  will  but  influence  our  generation,  America  will  remain  true 
to  her  old-time  principle,  and  be  the  refuge,  both  of  the  religiously 
and  of  the  politically  oppressed,  and  particularly  of  those  that  come 
from  that  den  of  iniquity,  Russia. 


The  Toastmaster:  After  this  brief  but  not  unprofitable  expe- 
dition into  the  Middle  West,  we  return  to  New  England.  Educa- 
tion is  represented  here  tonight,  and  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  to 
present  Dr.  F.  W.  Hamilton,  president  of  Tufts  College,  who  is 
the  next  speaker. 


THE  BANQUET  163 


ir.  ¥.  n.  i^amtUnn 


Boston 


Mr.  Toastmaster,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen — I  had  expected  be- 
fore this  to  hear  some  one  quote  the  old  witticism  that  Boston  is 
not  a  place  but  a  state  of  mind.  As  nobody  has  aimed  that  at  us 
Bostonians,  I  will  take  it  as  a  text    for  what  I  am  going  to  say. 

It  is  quite  true  that  Boston  is  not  a  place  but  a  stand  of  mind, 
and  it  is  equally  true  of  Chicago  and  it  is  equally  true  of  New 
York  and  it  is  equally  true  of  San  Francisco.  That  which  gives 
life  to  a  community  and  enables  it  to  play  its  part  in  the  nations 
is  a  state  of  mind,  and  not  a  few  square  feet  or  miles  of  earth  with 
the  buildings  that  are  on  it. 

But  America  is  a  bigger  thing  than  Boston ;  I  even  venture  to 
say  a  bigger  thing  than  Chicago,  a  bigger  thing  than  New  York 
or  San  Francisco  or  Philadelphia.  The  great  American  spirit  and 
the  great  American  life  is  the  composite  of  the  individual  lives  of 
the  cities  and  the  commonwealth  of  which  the  nation  is  composed. 

America  itself  is  a  state  of  mind,  "Opportunity,"  Emerson 
called  it,  and  I  think  Theodore  Parker  was  glad  to  approve  of  that. 

Now,  let  me  carry  the  parable  a  step  further.  I  have  been 
noting  with  great  interest  the  group  of  people  before  me  and  around 
me  tonight,  and  I  started  at  one  end  of  the  table  and  went  along, 
and  I  found  that  I  went  a  considerable  distance  before  I  found 
any  two  people  with  the  same  religious  connection,  and  yet  we  are 
here  out  of  our  own  denomination  or  connections,  which  are  like 
these  states  of  mind,  to  do  honor  to  a  man  who  was  a  prophet  of 
religion  which  is  bigger  than  any  of  the  religions — is  a  com- 
posite of  them  all. 

There  will  always  be  denominations  in  religion  as  there  will 
always  be  communities  in  a  great  nation.  Theodore  Parker  was  the 
prophet  of  the  universal  in  nationalism,  in  politics,  in  education,  in 
philanthropy  and  in  religion,  and  I  believe  that  our  real  basis  of 
union  is  not  conformity,  but  recognition ;  not  the  unity  which  wipes 
out  diversity,  but  the  unity  in  diversity  which  recognizes  the  uses, 
the  individual  characteristics  of  every  religion,  as  an  opportunity 
for  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  truth  and  religion,  which  is 
greater  than  any  and  comprehends  them  all. 


The  Toastmaster  :  The  individualism  of  that  address  recalls 
the  Scotch  revivalist  who  was  conducting  a  revival  and  calling  upon 
the  members  of  his  congregation  to  stand  up  and  sit  down  in  re- 
sponse to  all  sorts  of  queries.  Salvation  was  going  on  by  the 
wholesale,  and  finally  that  supreme  question  was  asked,  ''How  many 
want  to  go  to  Heaven?"  Immediately  all  stood  up  but  Sandy.  The 
good  revivalist  looked  at  him  sadly  and  said:  "Sandy,  don't  you 
want  to  go  to  Heaven?"  "Ou,  aye,  but  I  don't  care  to  be  personally 
conducted." 


164 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

We  now.  after  breathing  for  a  moment  the  rarefied  air  of  New 
England,  return  to  the  Middle  West,  and  we  will  go  a  little  beyond 
Chicago  to  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Chicago  in  which  we  take  great 
pride,  to  Kansas  City.  I  have  the  very  great  honor  of  introducing 
to  you  a  man  who  has  given  evidence  of  loyalty  to  ideals,  the  cour- 
age of  his  convictions,  who  has  been  contemporaneously  unortho- 
dox and  who  speaks  by  the  faith  that  is  in  him. 

BJtUtam  ^uUtuan 

Kansas  City 

I  came  to  this  series  of  Parker  celebrations,  dear  friends  and 
Mr.  Toastmaster,  as  the  representative  of  that  peculiar  sort  of  ani-. 
mal,  rather  individualistic  than  gregarious,  called  the  Modernist.  I 
presume  the  reason  why  the  invitation  was  extended  to  me  was  that 
these  Unitarians  and  other  religious  laborers  recognize  a  sort  of 
spiritual  kindred  between  those  Modernists  and  themselves ;  they 
feel  that  it  would  not  take  very  much  to  transform  a  Modernist  into 
a  full-blown  Unitarian,  or  Theodore  Parkerite.  In  fact,  the  process 
of  transformation  would  not  be  any  more  difficult  than  that  sug- 
gested in  an  old  story  which  was  told  by  Mr.  Twitchell  at  a  dinner 
in  New  York  City,  referring  back  to  the  earlier  days  of  the  Dar- 
winian agitation,  when  people  were  wondering  whether  their  grand- 
fathers had  tails  and  spent  their  nights  in  the  trees.  At  that  time 
there  was  an  old  Irish  pastor  in  Ireland  who  began  reading  Dar- 
winian books  and  became  very  much  interested.  He  was  power- 
fully impressed  with  the  arguments  which  went  to  make  out  that 
we  are  descended  from  simians.  While  he  was  in  that  state  of 
mind  he  went  to  a  circus,  and,  upon  entering,  he  approached  the 
tent  reserved  for  animals,  and  particularly  for  monkeys,  and,  gaz- 
ing at  them,  a  grave  and  dreadful  doubt  arose  in  his  mind  and  he 
asked  himself :  "Are  they  our  relatives — or,  oh,  horror ! — are  they 
possibly  human?" 

He  approached  one  lone  monkey  in  a  little  cage  all  by 
himself,  and  it  happened  that  this  monkey  had  been  trained  to 
imitate  everything  he  saw.  The  old  Irish  priest  looked  intently 
at  him.  The  monkey  looked  back.  The  priest  put  his  hand  to  his 
head.  The  monkey  put  his  hand  to  his  head.  The  priest  was 
astounded ;  it  seemed  as  though  that  monkey  were  reading  his  very 
thoughts.  He  walked  away,  walked  all  about  the  circus  considering 
the  matter,  and  returned,  and — winked  at  the  monkey.  The  mon- 
key winked  back.  He  smiled  at  the  monkey,  and  the  monkey  smiled 
back  at  him.  That  was  too  much  for  the  good  old  fellow,  and  he 
exclaimed :  "Bedad,  me  b'y,  if  you  will  only  say  one  word  I  will 
baptize  ye." 

There  are  a  great  many  of  us  Modernists  to  whom  these  relig- 
ious liberals  have  said  the  baptizing  or  regenerating  word,  the  word 
which  constitutes  us  brethren  of  their  kingdom. 


THE  BANQUET  165 


There  is  just  one  minute  left — I  insist  that  there  is,  Mr.  Toast- 
master — in  which  I  may  bring  before  you  a  lesson  which  is  directly 
appropriate  to  this  occasion  concerning  Theodore  Parker,  a  lesson 
that  I  should  certainly  consider  worth  recalling  to  your  mind  from 
the  life  of  this  man,  and  it  is  one  of  the  lessons  which  our  times 
need,  namely,  the  virtue  of  belligerent  sincerity. 

Please  understand  me,  dear  friends.  We  are  living  in  a  time 
when  certain  segregated  groups  may  be  in  danger  of  influencing 
consciously  or  irrationally  certain  actions  of  other  groups  which 
ought  not  to  be  actions  arising  from  compulsion,  but  ought  to  be 
absolutely  free. 

We  have  groups  in  our  social  order  which  exercise  a  potent 
influence  over  the  electorate.  We  go  to  a  man  up  for  public  ofifice 
and  we  ask  him:  "Look  here,  are  you  going  to  favor  our  group?" 
"Oh,  yes,  yes ;  for  God's  sake,  give  me  your  votes ;  I  will  do  it." 
And  so  we  have  the  "Irish  vote,"  the  "German  vote"  and  every 
other. 

The  danger  is  that  we  shall  put  into  office  men  whose  chief 
qualification  is  sycophancy,  is  servility.  What  such  a  man  ought  to 
say  to  such  a  suggestion  is:  "I  don't  know  anything  about  your 
group  as  a  group.  My  duty  I  will  do.  If  that  duty  breaks  your 
head,  I  have  got  to  break  it."  We  have  been  told  long  ago  that  this 
danger  exists  and  can  only  be  avoided  by  cultivating  in  our  youth 
that  spirit  of  belligerency  which  will  dare  to  say :  "I  will  act  abso- 
lutely irrespective  of  any  other  consequences  than  the  approval  of 
my  conscience  and  the  approval  of  God." 


The  Toastmaster  :  That  speech  reminds  me  of  the  Domin- 
ican monk  Campanella,  who  took  as  his  emblem  a  bell  and  who  took 
as  his  motto,  "I  can't  keep  still." 

But  we  cannot  remain  long  in  the  West.  Everything  draws  us 
toward  Boston,  and  now  I  am  to  present  to  you  a  gentleman  who 
stands  in  Boston  for  every  good  thing.  I  am  not  quite  sure  what 
he  is  going  to  talk  about,  but  I  think  I  can  guess,  for  he  is  a  man 
of  such  singleness  of  purpose  and  such  devotion  and  such  loyalty 
that  wherever  he  may  start  we  know  where  he  will  end — and  I 
know  also  that  he  will  end  in  three  minutes. 

I  have  the  distinguished  honor  of  presenting  Mr.  Edwin  D. 
Mead  of  Boston. 

Boston 

Mr.  Toastmaster:  Fifty  years  ago,  in  the  summer  of  1860, 
Theodore  Parker  died  in  Florence.  Fifty  years  ago,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1860,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  nominated  to  the  presidency 
in  Chicago.  As  Parker  lay  dying  in  Florence  he  said :  "One  Theo- 
dore Parker  is  dying  here.    I  have  planted  another  in  America,  and 


166 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

he  will  live  there  and  continue  my  work."  One  great  department  of 
his  work  was  emancipation.  That  was  the  great  work  of  Abraham 
Lincoln ;  and  among  all  the  anti-slavery  leaders  there  was  none  who 
mtluenced  Lincoln  more  profoundly  than  Theodore  Parker.  It  was 
from  him  that  he  borrowed  the  most  famous  phrase  in  his  most 
famous  speech,  his  declaration  concerning  government  "of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people" ;  and  no  man  inspired 
him  more  to  precise  and  powerful  statement  of  the  issues  of  the 
hour.  Half  a  century  after  Parker's  death,  half  a  century  after  Lin- 
coln's nomination,  it  is  imperative  for  us  to  ask  ourselves  whether 
their  work  for  emancipation  has  been  successfully  accomplished, 
or  whether  the  Theodore  Parker  who  was  planted  in  America  still 
has  work  to  do  here  in  that  field.  A  slave  is  not  made  a  freeman 
when  the  chain?  are  simply  struck  from  his  ankles.  He  becomes  a 
freeman,  he  has  his  rights,  when  unjust  discriminations  against  him 
have  been  overcome,  when  his  mind  is  informed  and  freed,  and 
when  he  has  the  same  opportunities  possessed  by  other  men  to  rise 
to  the  fullness  of  the  stature  of  citizenship  and  manhood.  We  must 
say,  then,  that  the  race  for  which  Parker  and  Linclon  labored  is 
not  yet  free ;  that  they  have  not  yet  their  full  rights,  and  that  we 
have  not  yet  done  our  duty.  Lincoln  and  Parker  accuse  us  today  of 
recreancy  and  dereliction ;  and  in  this  hour  let  us  highly  resolve 
that  their  work  shall  not  have  been  m  vain,  and  that  every  man  in 
this  republic,  white  or  black,  shall  have  complete  civil  and  political 
rights. 

Slavery  is  a  hydra-headed  monster.  There  are  more  kinds  of 
slavery  than  one.  as  Theodore  Parker  well  knew.  He  reminded 
his  generation  of  the  dangers  which  always  menace  a  republic  from 
military  despotism  and  a  mercantile  oligarchy.  If  we  think  that 
these  dangers  do  not  menace  us  today,  then  it  is  because  we  are 
blind.  Swedenborg  said  that  vv^hen  a  man  is  once  in  hell  he  does 
not  know  it.  If  he  does  know  it,  then  he  is  not  altogether  in  hell, 
for  there  is  reaction  in  him,  and  where  there  is  reaction  there  is 
relish  of  salvation.  I  sometimes  think  that  the  indifference  of  multi- 
tudes of  our  people  to  the  evils  in  which  they  are  sunk  is  a  terrible 
implication  that  they  are  far  into  Swedenborgs  hell.  They  laugh  at 
talk  of  despotism.  What  is  the  strongest  and  most  insidious  tool 
of  despotism?  It  is  and  always  has  been  the  power  of  the  purse, 
the  power  to  levy  taxes.  Where  do  the  taxes  of  the  people  of  this 
republic  go  today?  Theodore  Parker,  who  laid  such  stress  upon 
public  education,  would  tell  us  that  there  is  nothing  upon  which 
our  peoi)le  should  more  constantly  be  kept  informed  and  educated 
than  upon  this  point.  Seventy  per  cent  of  our  national  taxation 
goes  today  to  pay  for  the  expenses  of  past  wars  and  imaginary 
future  wars,  leaving  barely  thirty  per  cent  for  the  constructive  work 
of  the  republic ;  and  this  frightful  militarism  into  which  we  have 
been  betrayed  is  not  alone  an  intolerable  burden  to  our  own  people, 
but  a  great  menace  to  the  world.     Our  military  gentlemen  are  not 


THE  BANQUET  167 


even  satisfied  with  the  pass  to  which  they  have  brought  us.  General 
Wood,  the  commander  of  our  regular  army,  has  just  declared  his 
wish,  at  a  public  dinner,  that  we  might  "out-German  Germany"  in 
the  completeness  of  the  military  training  of  our  people.  I  note  that 
the  military  son  of  one  of  our  great  Standard  Oil  magnates — the 
association  makes  us  think  of  Parker's  association  of  military  des- 
potism and  mercantile  oligarchy — has  just  returned  from  a  tour 
among  the  military  clubs  of  Europe  to  express  the  opinion  through 
your  Chicago  newspapers  that  we  are  in  imminent  danger  of  in- 
vasion and  should  instantly  multiply  our  military  forces.  I  some- 
times think  that  these  callow  and  irresponsible  mischief-makers 
should  be  locked  up.  In  Massachusetts  a  law  has  been  passed  for- 
bidding the  use  of  public  cups  for  drinking  in  railways  cars  and  at 
drinking  fountains,  lest  some  infection  should  be  spread.  How 
vastly  more  poisonous  and  menacing  are  the  utterances  of  men  like 
these,  repeated  manifoldly  through  the  public  press.  A  rational  and 
mature  people  will  learn  how  to  insulate  these  creatures,  to  put 
them  into  secret  places  when  they  talk,  and  to  keep  the  public  air 
pure  from  their  contagion.  A  rational  and  mature  people  will  also 
know  that  its  defenses  lie  not  in  multiplying  guns  and  gunboats, 
suspicions  and  defiances,  but  in  such  policies  of  justice,  friendship 
and  cooperation  as  win  the  confidence  of  all  their  brothers  in  the 
great  family  of  nations. 

Establish  here  in  America,  said  Theodore  Parker,  a  state  that 
shall  trust  in  industry,  in  justice  and  in  love.  The  destination  of 
America,  he  said,  and  its  high  privilege,  are  to  teach  the  world 
the  invincible  power  and  the  inspiring  beauty  of  such  a  state.  If 
we  have  indeed,  any  of  us,  got  ourselves  paralyzed  in  the  indif- 
ference and  blindness  which  smack  of  hell,  let  Parker  startle  us  into 
misgiving  and  alarm.  But  chiefly  let  us  press  forward  with  his 
brave  and  buoyant  faith  in  good  sense,  good  morals  and  good  will. 

There  is  an  Oriental  story  of  a  man  seeking  wisdom  from 
the  gods,  who  found  inscribed  above  the  entrance  to  the  court  into 
which  he  was  led  the  v.'ords,  "Be  bold,"  and  over  the  second  gate 
the  words  "Be  bold,"  and  over  the  third  gate  the  words  "Be  not 
too  bold."  Let  us  in  this  republic  heed  the  same  admonitions,  with 
another,  and  say  solemnly  to  ourselves,  "Be  bold,  be  bold,  be  not  too 
bold,  and  evermore  be  bold." 


The  Toastmaster  :  For  the  encouragement  of  Mr.  Mead  I 
call  attention  to  some  verses  that  appeared  in  "Punch"  some  time 
ago.  I  can  give  only  the  beginning  and  the  end.  The  first  line  is, 
"I  was  playing  golf  on  the  day  the  Germans  landed,"  and  then  at 
the  end,  "Oh,  the  sorrow  and  shame;  why,  it  almost  spoiled  my 
game." 

It  is  thoroughly  appropriate  on  an  occasion  like  this  that  the 
addresses  should  not  only  be  from  Boston,  but  that  among  the 
speakers  there  should  be  women,  for  at  a  time  when  it  was  un- 


168 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERS'ARIES 

popular  to  be  in  favor  of  women,  at  a  rime  when  it  was  unpopular 
to  suggest  even  the  modification  of  the  feminine  wardrobe,  at  a 
time  when  it  was  unpopular  to  propose  large  liberties  and  oppor- 
tunities for  women,  Theodore  Parker  was  unorthodox  enough  to 
advocate  these  things. 

Now  there  is  no  man  so  weak — in  private  at  least — as  not  to 
yield  io  the  movement  of  the  time,  and  so  it  is  most  appropriate 
that  on  this  occasion  we  should  have  women  as  speakers,  and  we 
are  indeed  fortunate  in  having  a  woman,  one  whom  it  gives  me 
much  pleasure  to  introduce  as  the  next  speaker ;  a  woman  who 
ought  to  live  in  Boston,  but  who  temporarily,  because  we  need  her, 
is  living  in  Chicago — Mrs.  Celia  Parker  Woolley. 

of  the  Frederick  Douglass  Center,  Chicago 

Theodore  Parker  condensed  in  a  single  sermon  all  of  the 
heterodoxy  with  wh.ch  he  was  so  bitterly  accused  in  his  day,  but 
which  is  rapidly  becoming  the  orthodoxy  of  our  own. 

The  title  of  the  sermon  was  "The  Transient  and  the  Permanent 
in  Christianity."  Those  elements  in  Christian  teaching  and  in  the 
Bible  which  deal  only  with  myth  and  miracle,  with  dogma  and 
tradition,  are  transient  and  of  secondary  account.  The  true  thinker, 
the  reverent  student  of  the  Bible,  reads  it  discriminatingly,  with 
some  power  of  selection.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  bloody  pages 
of  Joshua  are  not  of  the  same  value  as  the  teachings  of  Micah,  the 
Book  of  Job  and  the  Twenty-third  Psalm.  In  the  New  Testament 
the  stories  of  turning  water  into  wine  and  raising  the  dead  are  but 
of  incidental  worth  compared  with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
and  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians.  It  is  the  office 
of  religion  to  separate  the  essential  from  the  non-essential. 

During  the  great  Parliament  of  Religions  we  learned  the 
same  lesson,  with  broader  application,  that  of  "The  Transient  and 
<;he  Permanent  in  Religion."  We  learned  that  all  sects  and  creeds 
were  practically  one  in  their  feeling  about  the  religious  funda- 
mentals called  God,  soul,  duty. 

I  think  it  was  Goethe  who  said,  "We  need  not  travel  all  around 
the  world  to  learn  that  everywhere  the  sky  is  blue."  Neither  need 
we  travel  all  around  the  world  to  learn  that  everywhere  the  heart 
of  man  looks  up  to  its  Maker,  yearning  to  believe,  and  that  every- 
where the  same  human  heart  is  growing  into  closer  fellowship  and 
service  with  its  brother  men. 

No  one  has  taught  us  these  great  truths  of  justice,  reverence 
and  human  usefulness  with  more  lasting  eloquence  and  power  than 
the  man  whose  anniversary  we  celebrate  tonight. 


The  Toastmaster:     The  next  speaker  is  going  to  have  a  good 
deal  of  difficulty.     Pie  is  a  man  possessed  of  a  perfectly  uncheck- 


THE  BANQUET  169 


able  and  irresistible  flow  of  rhetoric,  as  well  as  imagination.  When 
bis  imagination  once  kindles,  nothing  can  stop  him;  he  starts  with 
the  firm  determination  to  keep  within  the  three-minute  limit  very 
likely,  but  you  will  see  him  getting  more  excited,  you  will  witness 
the  phenomenon  of  psychic  hypnosis,  and  before  he  can  be  stopped, 
very  possibly  forcible  means  will  have  to  be  employed.  This  time 
we  go  back  to  just  this  side  of  Boston,  to  Cambridge,  and  it  gives 
me  pleasure  to  introduce  Rabbi  Charles  Fleischer  of  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts 

Cambridge,  Massachusetts 

On  my  way  to  Chicago  from  Boston  a  fellow  Bostonian, 
formerly  from  Chicago,  told  me  of  a  recent  conversation  with  an 
inhabitant  of  your  city.  The  Chicagoan  said  to  the  Bostonian,  "This 
Theodore  Roosevelt" — he  was  referring  to  a  man  whose  name  is 
familiar  to  you  and  whose  wonderful  silence  since  the  late  election  is 
still  a  nine  days'  wonder — "This  Theodore  Roosevelt  seems  to  have 
discovered  that  he  is  possessed  of  peculiar  righteousness,  righteous- 
ness peculiar  to  himself,  whereas,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  is  talking 
about  common  morality,"  "Yes,"  said  the  Bostonian,  "but  you 
have  to  admit  that  Roosevelt  is  a  great  man."  "Yes,  he  is  a  great 
man,  but  I  think  he  ought  to  be  a  preacher  and  not  bother  men 
about  their  daily  affairs."  I  was  very  much  impressed  with  that 
characterization  of  Roosevelt  as  a  preacher. 

My  fellow  townsman  of  the  greater  Boston,  President  Hamil- 
ton, has  spoken  of  the  religion  which  is  greater  than  any  and  com- 
prehends them  all.  That  is  just  the  topic  on  which  I  want  to  say 
my  one  word. 

I  suppose  every  one  sees  of  God  what  he  can  see.  I  suppose 
every  one  can  see  of  a  great  man  relatively  what  he  is  tempera- 
mentally fitted  to  see. 

In  Theodore  Parker,  of  the  many  facets  of  character  which 
appeal  to  me,  the  one  that  most  appeals  to  me  is  that  which  stamps 
him  as  the  believer  in  a  protagonistic  form  of  natural  religion. 
That,  I  believe,  is  the  religion  which  is  greater  than  any  and  com- 
bines them  all. 

All  of  us  here  at  this  table  are  affiliated,  one  way  or  another, 
with  organized  historical  religion ;  but  underneath  us  all,  and  tran- 
scending us  all,  is  that  which  is  common  to  us  all,  which,  accordnig 
to  my  friend,  Theodore  Roosevelt  seems  to  have  discovered  as  a 
new  religion. 

I  want  to  drop  the  seed  of  rebellion.  Theodore  Parker  was 
a  democrat,  not  in  the  party  sense,  but  in  the  American  sense;  and 
he  was  a  rebel,  first,  last  and  all  the  time. 

I  believe  in  rebellion,  I  believe  in  the  spirit  of  Theodore  Parker, 
that  that  shall  be  applied  so  that  there  shall  be  more  of  that  con- 


170 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

lemporaneous  rebellion  against  established  statements  and  defini- 
tions. We  are  too  busy  praising  Theodore  Parker,  instead  of  going 
and  doing  likewise. 

Now,  I  would  like  to  propose  a  toast  here ;  that  we  shall  take  to 
ourselves  the  obligation  of  the  personal  Theodore  Parker,  and 
declare  that  we  highly  resolve  to  be  rebels  like  unto  him,  especially 
in  this  matter  of  free,  natural,  progressive  religion ;  that  we  will 
not  hold  our  loyalty  to  traditional  forms ;  that  we  will  empha- 
size more  and  more  the  religion  that  is  common,  that  is  natural  tc 
all  of  us ;  that  in  becoming  free  religionists,  then  we  become  signers 
of  and  workers  for  the  spiritual  declaration  of  independence ;  that 
we  declare  ourselves  free  and  independent  of  the  religions  that  we 
have  inherited,  simply  saying  "Thank  you"  to  them,  but  feeling  it  is 
for  us  to  continue  to  do  everything  to  secure  this  natural  religion. 

That  is  contemporaneous  rebellion,  the  contemporaneous  rebel- 
lion of  Theodore  Parker;  he  liked  that  word.  I  want  to  say  it 
tonight,  and  trust  that  it  will  be  responsible  for  some  more  rebellion 
and  independence. 

Everything  that  exists  on  earth  was  created  by  man,  and  no 
book,  no  institution,  no  combination,  no  form  of  government, 
whether  in  politics,  in  religion,  or  economics,  dare  dominate  man, 
the  creator.  It  is  the  function  of  man  always,  everlastingly,  in- 
evitably and  eternally  to  continue  to  create  governments,  economics, 
religions,  human  institutions — marching  onward. 


The  Toastmaster:  The  toastmaster  would  like  to  call  at- 
tention modestly  to  the  fact  that  there  is  one  absolute  authority 
here  at  present,  and  that  is  the  toastmaster. 

As  to  the  views  of  the  eminent  political  leader  to  whom  allusion 
has  been  made  this  evening,  I  would  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
they  will  be  quoted  at  length  this  week  in  what  the  New  York 
Sun  describes  as  '"The  Down-and-Out-Look." 

Fifty  years  ago,  the  next  speaker  would  have  come  to  Chicago 
by  the  underground  railway.  This  time  he  came  in  a  Pullman  car, 
at  least  after  he  got  over  the  Arkansas  boundary.  If  it  is  proper  for 
any  of  these  speakers  to  be  here  tonight,  I  think  you  will  agree 
with  me  that  it  is  eminently  appropriate  and  fitting  for  the  next 
speaker  to  be  here,  and  we  all  have  a  hearty  welcome  for  this  man, 
who  is  one  of  a  small  group  of  men  who  are  doing  valiant,  intelli- 
gent, loyal  service  for  their  fellows  and  for  the  country.  What  joy 
it  would  give  Theodore  Parker  to  see  us  welcome  Isaac  Fisher  of 
Arkansas. 

(Mr.  Fisher  was  greeted  with  long-continued  applause  and 
waving  of  handkerchiefs.) 


THE  BANQUET  171 


Arkansas 

Mr.  Toastmaster :  In  a  forty-page  review  of  the  progress  of 
Chicago  one  of  your  city  papers  attempted  to  show  the  greatness 
of  this  metropohs.  I  read  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  the  sum- 
mary touching  your  great  parks  and  playgrounds  as  a  part  of  the 
greatness  of  which  the  writer  boasted,  and  I  suddenly  remembered 
that,  in  the  days  of  old,  Bablyon  had  the  most  beautiful  hangnig 
gardens  and  play  spots  in  the  world ;  but  Babylon  is  gone. 

I  saw  the  writer's  summary  of  music  and  the  drama,  and  1 
suddenly  remembered  that,  in  the  history  of  past  cities,  the  sound 
of  the  tabret  and  the  music  of  the  harp  had  resounded;  those  cities 
have  passed  away. 

I  saw  his  summary  of  the  commerce  and  wealth  and  industry 
of  Chicago,  and  I  remembered  that  Tyre,  the  commercial  center  of 
the  East  in  the  past,  had  also  passed  away. 

I  saw  his  summary  of  the  splendid  position  of  the  industrial 
greatness  of  this  magic  city  of  the  West,  and  I  remembered  that 
the  time  comes  to  all  men  when  they  must  say,  "Return  to  thy 
rest,  O  my  soul,"  and  I  knew  that  the  mere  fact  that  men  worked 
here  is  not  the  ultimate  test  of  Chicago's  greatness. 

In  all  that  great  summary  I  looked  in  vain  for  that  upon 
which  the  greatness  of  all  cities  must  be  built.  I  looked  in  vain 
for  the  spirit  which  made  possible  the  appearance  in  the  center  of 
the  culture  and  education  of  Chicago,  the  son  of  a  man  and  a 
woman  who  in  the  days  gone  by  had  worn  the  shackles  of  slavery. 
Here  is  your  greatness :  That  you  can  wish  to  have  a  negro  speak- 
ing here  tonight.  That  is  the  spirit  that  is  going  to  make  Chicago 
great  among  the  cities  of  this  nation. 

It  is  a  long  distance  from  the  underground  railroad  to  this 
hour ;  it  is  a  long  distance  from  the  times  when  the  slaves,  with 
their  hands  upheld  to  Heaven,  cried,  "Lord,  how  long?"  to  this 
hour,  when  a  new  inspiration  comes  and  sinks  untainted  into  every 
heart  tonight ;  and  al!  this  has  come  in  a  large  measure  from  the 
public  word  and  work  of  him  who  in  days  past,  not  because  a  man 
was  black,  not  because  a  man  was  white,  but  because  his  big  soul 
could  not  brook  injustice,  dared  speak  a  word  for  the  right. 

Theodore  Parker  is  greater  tonight  than  he  was  then ;  greater 
than  he  ever  dared  dream  that  he  might  become,  and  I  say  here,  as 
my  humble  contribution  to  this  hour,  that  in  the  encouragement  of 
prophets,  that  in  the  lifting  up  of  their  hands  that  they  may  have 
strength  and  inspiration  for  each  day's  tasks  and  each  day's  burdens, 
there  is  the  great  work  for  Chicago  to  do,  there  is  the  work  that 
under  God  is  going  to  make  her  great. 


The  Toastmaster  :     It  is  a  peculiar  honor  for  the  toastmaster 
to  introduce  the  next  speaker.     This  is  the  first  time  on  a  public 


172 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

occasion  that  the  toastmaster  has  been  able  to  call  attention  to  the 
flattering  fact  that  he  is  a  graduate  of  the  same  institution  from 
which  the  speaker  who  is  next  to  address  you  has  lately  received  a 
degree.  To  be  sure,  the  degree  which  was  received  by  that 
lady  was  a  very  recent  affair,  and  of  a  higher  character,  but  it 
is  from  the  same  institution,  and  so  the  toastmaster  feels  he  has 
some  particular  part  in  the  honor  which  that  institution  conferred 
upon  itself  in  conferring  an  honorary  degree  upon  Miss  Jane 
Addams,  a  graduate  of  Yale. 

(Miss  Addams  was  received  with  hearty  applause.) 

Mtafi  3anr  Abliama 

Hull  House,  Chicago 

We  will  divide  that  applause  between  Yale  and  the  woman. 
Since  T  have  been  sitting  here  I  have  changed  my  mind  three  times 
as  to  the  special  things  I  was  going  to  say  about  Theodore  Parker 
and  about  all  the  things  I  have  heard  this  week.  Of  them  all 
the  one  that  most  impressed  me  was  said  by  Mrs.  Spencer  on 
Wednesday  morning,  when  she  said  of  Theodore  Parker  that, 
to  the  end  of  his  life  he  still  believed  in  the  great  forces  which 
had  brought  about  the  enfranchisement  of  the  slave,  which  had 
established  all  good  things,  including  this  republic  in  America, 
and  which  had  the  power  to  do  still  greater  things ;  he  could  say 
and  did  say  his  word,  used  great  phrases  about  human  equality, 
about  the  necessity  of  absolute  justice  for  all  men  and  all  women, 
with  great  confidence  in  the  ultimate  outcome  of  those  forces.  But 
we  cannot  talk  so  boldly  at  this  time ;  we  cannot  speak  so  much 
without  reservation  as  Theodore  Parker  and  other  people  of  his 
time  did ;  and  it  is  a  matter  of  great  regret  to  many  of  us  that 
those  men  who  could  use  the  great  forces  in  existence,  who  had 
not  yet  seen  the  difficulties  and  social  obligations  which  we  have 
since  discovered,  thj;t  they  did  not  finish  up  the  business  of  secur- 
ing the  vote  for  women.  It  is  too  late  to  talk  about  those  things 
now,  but  it  is  not  fair  that  the  women  and  the  men  of  this  genera- 
tion should  have  to  do  the  work  which  belonged  to  a  generation 
before  them.  The  men  who  freed  the  slaves  in  America,  who  put 
the  suffrage  in  their  hands,  did  it  because  they  knew  that  in  no 
other  way  could  they  protect  their  hard-won  liberty,  and  they 
should  have  been  the  men  to  give  the  suffrage  to  women  also.  We 
are  called  upon  to  do  something  which  is  not  quite  our  affair ;  we 
ought  to  be  now  in  a  position  to  use  this  suffrage,  not  as  a  per- 
sonal matter,  but  for  tuberculosis  hospitals,  for  certified  milk,  and 
all  the  other  things  of  which  Miss  Dingee  has  spoken ;  but  instead 
of  that  we  have  to  neglect  those  important  matters  which  are  at  our 
very  doors  and  go  back  and  pick  up  this  unfinished  work  of  pro- 
curing suffrage  for  women,  which  Theodore  Parker  and  the  others 
.somehow   failed  to  put  into  our  hands. 


THE  BANQUET  173 


He  saw  the  need  of  suffrage  for  the  negro,  because  he  saw 
the  negro  had  to  be  protected  in  his  new-found  Hberty.  Before  he 
died  he  also  saw  that  women  were  entering  into  all  branches  of 
industry,  factories,  shops  and  all  others.  He  knew  something 
about  this;  indeed,  Mrs.  Spencer  declared  that  he  died  because  he 
tried  to  find  so  many  places  for  women  in  his  congregation  of 
seven  thousand.  He  saw  the  need  of  protection  under  those  cir- 
cumstances, he  saw  the  only  solution,  and  yet  he  did  not  quite 
carry  it  to  consummation — it  is  outrageous,  isn't  it,  to  blame  a 
man  when  you  are  set  up  to  praise  him? 

If  he  had  lived  longer,  I  believe  he  would  have  moved  much 
farther  in  this  direction.  As  we  like  to  think  of  the  things  Lincoln 
would  have  done  if  he  had  been  here  in  the  days  of  reconstruction, 
so  perhaps  we  would  like  to  think  of  the  things  men  of  Theodore 
Parker's  stamp  would  have  done,  and  he  would  have  done,  if  he 
had  lived  longer.  He  certainly  would  have  realized  that  if  it  was 
dangerous  to  give  to  the  negroes  freedom  without  the  protection 
of  the  ballot,  it  was  extremely  dangerous  to  allow  women  to  go 
into  all  the  industries  which  they  now  occupy  without  giving  to 
them  the  protection  of  the  ballot ;  and,  while  I  would  not  wish  to 
cast  any  reflection  upon  what  those  men  did,  because  they  did  so 
much  in  their  generation,  I  would  like  to  endorse  what  one  of  the 
speakers  has  said:  It  is  for  men  here  and  now  to  take  new  cour- 
age and  try  to  finish  up  the  work  which  Theodore  Parker,  with 
all  his  strength  of  mind   and   spirit  of   rebellion,   failed   to  carry 


through. 


The  Toastmaster  :  Now,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  have  had 
a  most  triumphant  time.  We  have  had  ten  speeches  in  the  space 
of  fifty  minutes,  and,  taking  out  the  two  or  three  minutes  that  the 
toastrnaster  has  consumed,  you  will  see  that  the  speakers,  each  and 
all.  have  kept  within  the  original  limits  set.  The  little  device  of 
suggesting  three  minutes  has  worked  admirably. 

You  all  realize  that  this  evening  would  be  absolutely  in- 
complete if  there  were  not  one  more  address.  I  don't  have  to  tell 
you  who  the  next  speaker  is,  because  the  very  situation  of  itself 
points  at  him  and  declares  him  to  be  the  man  who  is  back  of  it, 
around  it  and  on  top  of  it,  the  man  whose  big  heart  is  throbbing 
through  it.  He  is  the  man  who  must  pronounce  the  benediction, 
Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones.     (Long-continued  and  renewed  applause.) 

Sfn.  S^nktn  Hlogb  Jnttpa 

Chicago 

I,  with  you,  am  very  happy  tonight.  I,  with  you,  feel  that  a 
presence  and  a  spirit  pervade  this  place  that  recall  tender  mem- 
ories and  awakens  aspirations  and  high  resolves. 

I,  with  you,  rejoice  in  this  man  that  went  out  in  apparent  de- 
feat, who  was  beset  with  obloquy,  who  was  segregated  from  the 


1/4 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

noble.  I  rejoice  with  you  that  that  man  has  lived  again  in  Chi- 
cago this  week.  He  has  found  utterance  in  at  least  fourteen  dif- 
ferent rooms  and  centers  under  the  direction  of  this  central  pro- 
gram, and  perhaps  in  twice  as  many  churches.  I,  with  you,  rejoice 
that  Theodore  Parker  has  come  to  his  own  this  week  and  has  been 
acclaimed  as  a  prophet  and  a  brother  by  representatives  of  so  many 
different  creeds,  different  races  and  different  classes.  I  rejoice  with 
you  that  it  has  been  given  us  to  live  to  see  this  occasion  w'hich 
typifies  the  better  life  of  this  city  and  is  of  itself  a  blessed  prophecy. 

The  Theodore  Parker  that  was  left  at  work  in  America  when 
the  other  Theodore  Parker  was  dying  in  Florence  is  just  beginning 
to  get  busy,  just  beginning  to  put  in  his  work;  and  of  all  his 
high  words  that  have  been  uttered  here  tonight  there  was  none 
higher,  there  was  none  more  tender  and  none  more  commanding 
in  his  vocabulary  than  that  w^ord  "unity,"  that  word  which  inspired 
after  him  co-operation  rather  than  competition,  combination  rather 
than  individualism.  It  was  he  who  sent  his  spirit  across  the  seas 
and  anticipated  the  conclusions  of  the  scholars  by  the  discovery 
that,  underneath  all  the  great  religious  systems  of  the  world,  there 
were  the  same  fundamental  affirmations  of  God,  of  conscience,  of 
immortality. 

Rather  than  to  take  the  time  which  was  not  allotted  me,  after 
the  chairman  has  completed  whatever  may  be  in  his  mind,  I  am 
going  to  ask  our  friend,  Miss  Jennie  Johnson,  to  lead  us  in  singing 
the  words  written  by  the  brother  whom  we  all  miss,  but  whose  spirit 
is  here  tonight,  William  C.  Gannett.  After  the  chairman  dismisses 
us  we  will  ask  Miss  Johnson  to  sing  "The  Crowning  Day,"  and  we 
will  join  in  the  chorus: 

"Oh,  the  crowning  day  is  coming,  is  coming  by  and  by ; 
We  can  see  the  rose  of  morning  a  glory  in  the  sky. 
And  the  splendor  on  the  hilltops  o'er  all  the  land  shall  lie 
In  the  crowning  day  that's  coming  by  and  by." 


MR.  HUTCHINSON:  We  will  rise  and  sing,  and  then  go 
forth  filled  with  the  spirit  of  Theodore  Parker  and  realizing  that 
his  opportunities  were  far  less  than  those  that  are  ours  today. 


Aiiittinnal  KhhvtBBtB 


ADDITIONAL  ADDRESSES  \77 


By  the  Niece  of  Theodore  Parker,  Mrs.  Martha  Parker  Dingee, 
read  before  the  Tuesday  Class  in  Religion  at  Abraham.  Lincoln 
Centre,  on  November  15,  subsequently  before  the  Unitarian 
Women's  Alliance,   in   the   First   Unitarian   Church,   Chicago. 


In  this  anniversary  year  of  the  birth  and  death  of  Theodore 
Parker  others  have  spoken  of  his  work,  his  philosophy  and  his  theol- 
ogy. I  will  only  give  some  reminiscences  showing  somewhat  the 
character  of  the  man. 

Theodore  Parker,  the  youngest  of  eleven  children,  was  born  on 
a  farm  in  Lexington,  Mass.,  and  here  his  early  years  were  spent. 
As  was  the  custom  in  the  country  for  the  boys,  he  attended  school 
in  the  winter  and  helped  on  the  farm  in  the  summer.  This  was  his 
schooling  during  nine  winter  terms  of  eleven  weeks  each,  and  with 
one  year  added  at  the  Lexington  Academy.  His  father  was  a  sub- 
scriber to  the  Lexington  Library  and  here  Theodore  found  books 
of  history,  poetry  and  fiction.  He  read  everything,  and,  with  a 
remarkably  retentive  memory,  his  mind  became  well  stored.  His 
mother  was  a  religious  woman  and  had  her  boy  baptized.  This 
service  was  performed  at  home,  and  the  bowl  used  on  that  occa- 
sion has  been  preserved  in  the  family.  She  early  implanted  in  his 
mind  a  love  of  truth  and  justice,  and  a  reverence  for  Jesus. 

One  day  when  at  play  Theodore  saw  a  tortoise  sunning  itself 
on  the  bank  of  the  pond.  He  raised  a  stick  with  which  to  strike  it, 
but  something  said  to  him  he  must  not  do  it.  He  put  down  the 
stick  and  went  home  and  asked  his  mother  what  it  was  that  spoke 
to  him.  She  said:  "Some  call  it  conscience,  but  I  prefer  to  call 
it  the  voice  of  God  speaking  to  your  soul,  and  if  you  always  obey 
that  voice  you  will  not  go  wrong ;  but  if  you  disregard  it,  by  and  by 
you  will  not  hear  it,  and  then  it  will  be  bad  for  you."  This  thought 
never  left  him,  and  his  conscience  was  his  guide. 

His  great  desire  was  for  books  and  an  education  beyond  what 
the  country  school  afforded.  The  first  money  he  ever  earned  he 
spent  for  a  Latin  dictionary,  and  this  he  studied.  It  is  told  that 
one  morning  he  left  home  without  saying  where  he  was  going,  and, 
returning  late  at  night,  found  his  father  in  bed,  but  awake,  and  told 
him  he  had  been  to  Cambridge  and  had  passed  the  Harvard  College 
examination  and  been  admitted  to  the  freshman  class.  When  his 
father  remarked  that  he  could  not  meet  the  expenses,  Theodore  re- 


178 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

plied  that  he  would  earn  money  to  pay  the  bills.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen  he  began  teaching  school  and  in  the  winters  taught  in  sev- 
eral of  the  towns  about  Boston,  at  the  same  time  studying  and 
keeping  up  with  his  class  in  college.  In  the  summer  he  continued 
to  work  on  the  farm.  His  study  lamp  seems  now  a  very  primitive 
afi'air,  burning  sperm  oil  with  two  wicks.  This  was  before  the 
days  of  gas  and  electricity,  or  even  kerosene.  This  was  his  course 
of  life  until  he  entered  the  Divinity  School, 

In  1836  he  was  ordained  as  a  Unitarian  minister  and  began  his 
duties  as  a  pastor  in  West  Roxbury,  a  suburb  of  Boston.  Here  he 
made  many  devoted  and  life-long  friends.  At  the  time  he  began 
his  ministry  the  churches  were  teaching  that  all  mankind  were  sin- 
ners and  the  wrath  of  an  angry  God  would  condemn  to  eternal 
punishment  all  save  a  few  elect.  Parker,  with  his  inborn  sense  of 
justice,  could  not  accept  such  a  theology.  He  taught  that  God 
was  not  an  avenging  judge,  but  a  loving  Father  and  Mother  to  all 
mankind,  that  black  and  white,  Jew  and  Gentile,  pagan  and  Chris- 
tian, were  His  children,  over  whom  He  extended  a  paternal  care. 
He  was  known  as  an  able  scholar,  a  reformer  and  a  radical  in  re- 
ligious doctrines,  but  had  as  yet  made  no  special  stir  in  the  theolog- 
ical world.  In  1841  he  was  invited  to  preach  the  ordination  sermon 
of  a  young  Unitarian  minister.  He  took  for  the  subject  of  his 
discourse  "The  Transient  and  Permanent  in  Christianity."  Many 
points  relating  to  the  Bible  and  the  church  theology  were  so  foreign 
to  the  accepted  church  teaching  that  it  brought  down  upon  him  the 
maledictions  of  press  and  pulpit.  The  sermon  was  pronounced 
heresy  and  Parker  an  infidel  and  an  atheist.  The  Unitarian  Fra- 
ternity asked  him  to  resign  from  their  body,  but  this  he  declined 
to  do;  they  should  have  the  onus  of  dismissing  him.  They  did 
not  dismiss  him.  But  few  of  his  ministerial  brethren  would  ex- 
change pulpits  with  him  or  extend  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  him. 
The  clergy  were  especially  denunciatory.  The  words  of  this  humble 
preacher  might  undermine  the  foundations  of  their  theological 
structure.  One  preacher  went  so  far  as  to  pray :  "O  Lord !  we 
beseech  Thee  that  Thou  wilt  remove  this  Theodore  Parker  from 
our  midst,  as  we  confess  we  can  do  nothing  with  him."  This  sup- 
plicant at  the  throne  passed  into  obscurity  and  Theodore  Parker 
lived. 

This  treatment,  of  course,  wounded  him  deeply ;  but  he  felt 
that  he  had  only  spoken  as  his  conscience  dictated,  and  with  the 
same  courage  and  sense  of  duty  that  his  grandfather  had  shown 
when,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775,  he  with  his  small  company  of 
Minute  Men  met  an  army  of  trained  British  soldiers,  so  he  stood 
firm,  believing  that  time  would  vindicate  him. 

What  was  deemed  heresy  sixty  years  ago  is  the  basis  of  the 


ADDITIONAL  ADDRESSES 179 

free  religious  thought  of  today.  His  friends  determined  that,  in 
spite  of  much  opposition,  he  should  have  a  chance  to  be  heard  in 
Boston,  and  in  1846  he  left  his  country  parish.  A  hall  was  secured, 
and  here  he  preached  several  years;  but  such  throngs  came  to  hear 
him  that  a  larger  place  was  necessary,  and  Music  Hall,  which  would 
accommodate  several  thousand,  was  secured,  and  here  he  preached 
until  sickness  forced  him  to  leave  the  pulpit. 

A  woman,  a  stranger,  one  Sunday  morning  wandered  into 
Parker's  church  and  after  the  services,  by  which  she  had  been  much 
impressed,  remarked,  ''I  wish  that  infidel,  Theodore  Parker,  could 
have  heard  that  sermon,"  little  thinking  that  she  had  been  listening 
to  that  very  infidel.  It  is  agitation  that  turns  the  wheels  of  prog- 
ress ;  stagnant  waters  turn  no  wheels. 

Parker's  Discourses  on  Religion  are  published  in  a  separate 
volume  and,  I  understand,  have  recently  been  translated  into  the 
Japanese  language.  His  sermons  were  largely  upon  practical  moral- 
ity and  the  problems  of  the  day. 

Besides  preaching,  he  lectured  before  different  societies 
throughout  the  country.  After  one  of  these  lectures  he  was  in- 
vited to  a  private  house  for  the  night,  and  in  the  cold  sheets  of  the 
best  bed  of  his  entertainer  he  had  a  violent  chill,  which  resulted  in 
his  fatal  illness. 

His  correspondence  was  immense,  and  the  personal  calls  from 
all  classes  of  people,  those  who  wished  to  unburden  their  griefs,  to 
have  their  religious  doubts  removed,  or  to  express  their  joys  over 
their  matrimonial  prospects,  took  much  of  his  time;  but  with  his 
great  tender  heart  he  listened  to  all  and  sent  them  away  comforted. 

In  the  anti-slavery  movement  he  took  an  active  part,  speaking 
against  the  injustice  of  holding  one  man  as  property  to  be 
bought  and  sold  by  another.  He  assisted  and  befriended  the  run- 
away slaves,  and  for  such  acts  he  was  arrested  and  held  for  trial 
as  a  violator  of  the  infamous  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  He  prepared 
his  defense,  but  the  trial  never  came  off.  His  friends  urged  him 
to  write  out  his  defense  for  publication.  This  he  did,  adding  much 
history  on  the  subject.  This  is  published  as  a  separate  volume 
known  as   Parker's  Defenses. 

He  felt  strongly  the  disgrace  of  his  country,  but  never  doubted 
that  freedom  would  eventually  triumph.  In  one  of  his  later  letters, 
while  dying  in  Italy,  he  says:  "There  is  a  glorious  future  for 
America,  but  I  fear  it  will  be  over  a  red  sea."  The  war  broke 
out  the  following  year,  and  it  was  indeed  a  red  sea  through  which 
our  country  passed. 

In  personal  appearance  Parker  looked  older  than  his  years. 
He  was  entirely  bald,  except  for  the  scant  locks  at  the  back  of 
his  head.     His  eyes  were  not  large,  but  bright.     His  gaze  seemed 


180 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

to  penetrate  your  very  soul  when  fixed  upon  you.  In  speaking,  his 
manner  was  serious  and  earnest.  He  made  few  gestures  and 
never  raised  his  voice  to  an  unnatural  pitch,  but  his  utterance  was 
so  distinct  that  his  words  could  be  heard  throughout  any  large 
hall.  You  felt  sure  that  he  believed  what  he  was  saying.  His  New 
England  conscience  gave  to  him  what  strangers  thought  a  stern- 
ness of  countenance,  but  acquaintance  corrected  that  impression. 

His  affectionate  nature  was  shown  in  his  attachment  to  his 
friends,  his  fondness  for  children,  his  love  for  flowers  and  for 
animals,  especially  for  oxen,  with  their  large,  dreamy  eyes.  The 
bear  was  a  favorite,  and  his  friends  found  much  amusement  in 
presenting  him  with  bears  of  all  kinds — china,  plaster,  or  any  kind 
of  a  ridiculous  specimen  of  Bruin.  His  pet  name  for  his  wife  was 
"Bearsie."  Having  no  children  of  his  own,  when  he  could  break 
from  his  study,  he  would  borrow  the  little  ones  of  his  friends,  and 
it  was  their  delight  to  ride  over  Parker  as  he  would  lie  on  the  floor 
or  romp  with  them. 

Of  flowers  he  was  very  fond,  and  of  many  he  knew  their  habits 
and  their  locations,  and  in  the  season  he  would  rise  at  daybreak 
and  walk  seven  miles  to  gather  the  fringed  gentian. 

In  his  city  home  the  whole  upper  floor  was  his  study  and 
library.  It  was  a  wilderness  of  books,  not  only  in  cases  against 
the  walls,  but  they  stood  in  every  available  place,  and  books  over- 
flowed into  every  room  in  the  house ;  and  it  was  a  surprise  to  people 
that  he  always  knew  just  where  to  find  the  book  that  was  wanted. 
Over  his  study  door  were  placed  two  guns,  one  which  his  grand- 
father carried,  and  the  other  one  which  he  captured  from  the 
British  officer  on  the  memorable  19th  of  April,  1775.  Because  he 
was  so  familiar  with  all  subjects  he  was  called  a  walking  encyclo- 
pedia. At  the  time  of  his  death  it  was  said  he  had  the  largest  private 
library  in  the  country.  By  his  will  this  was  given  to  the  city  of 
Boston,  and  in  the  public  library  a  separate  alcove  is  given  to  his 
books.  Here  also  were  placed  the  portraits  of  himself  and  his  wife 
and  a  marble  bust  of  the  former  by  Story. 

His  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and  an  elderly  lady,  a  friend  of 
his  wife,  an  intellectual  woman  who  greatly  appreciated  Mr.  Parker. 
His  wife  was  a  gentle,  domestic  woman,  whose  quiet,  pleasant  ways 
were  restful  to  him.  In  the  evening  when  in  the  parlor  socially 
with  his  friends,  his  fingers  were  often  busy  cutting  the  leaves  of  the 
last  new  book.  His  sense  of  humor  and  his  fund  of  anecdotes 
made  him  a  delightful  companion. 

He  was  ever  helpful  to  the  deserving.  Any  young  man  or 
woman  who  showed  a  desire  for  an  education  beyond  what  his 
means  would  allow  found  in  him  a  generous  helper — the  bills 
might  be  sent  to  him.     My  own  school  bills  were  paid  by  him,  he 


ADDITIONAL  ADDRESSES 181 

saying  my  father  had  assisted  him  and  he  was  glad  to  help  his 
children.  Later,  from  my  school-teaching  money,  I  ofifered  to 
refund  a  part  of  what  he  had  paid  for  me.  He  refused  the  money, 
saying:  "There  is  but  one  way  to  pay  such  debts.  I  help  you; 
you  help  some  one  else." 

He  was  very  fond  of  the  Lexington  home.  No  butternuts 
were  quite  so  good  to  him  as  those  from  the  trees  under  which 
he  had  played  and  studied  when  a  boy.  In  his  visits  to  his  dear 
old  home  he  took  books  to  bis  brother's  children.  I  remember 
some  of  them — Mother  Goose  for  the  little  ones,  Mary  Howill's 
stories  and  Aesop's  Fables  for  the  older  ones.  We  enjoyed  the 
fables,  but  skipped  the  moral  application. 

His  was  a  hospitable  home.  Strangers  always  felt  welcome 
at  Exeter  Place,  a  four-story  house  with  a  small  back  yard,  which 
he  had  planted  with  fruit  trees,  grape  vines  and  flowers,  and  it 
was  his  pleasure  to  gather  grapes,  hold  them  under  the  hydrant 
and  bring  them  to  the  breakfast  table  sparkling  from  their  bath. 

Many  marriages  were  performed  in  his  parlor  at  Exeter  Place, 
my  own  among  the  number.  He  had  no  fixed  service,  and  when  in 
his  remarks  to  us  he  said  to  the  groom,  "In  some  ways  you  will 
find  this  woman  your  superior ;  then  look  up  to  her  and  reverence 
her,"  the  young  man  was  somewhat  disturbed,  thinking  because  I 
was  his  niece  he  was  partial  to  me ;  but  when  he  turned  to  me  and 
said,  "In  some  things  you  will  find  this  man  your  superior;  then 
look  up  to  him  and  reverence  him,"  this  appeased  the  bridegroom. 
William  and  Ellen  Craft,  colored  people,  were  married  in  this  same 
room  as  they  were  escaping  to  Canada  from  slavery  to  freedom. 
After  the  ceremony  he  presented  the  bride  with  a  Bible  and  the 
groom  with  a  pistol,  saying:  "Read  the  one  and  defend  yourself 
with  the  other." 

This  house,  with  others,  was  torn  down  some  years  ago  in 
order  to  widen  the  adjoining  streets,  into  which  business  was 
crowding.  His  widow  later  built  for  herself  a  house  in  the  newer 
part  of  Boston,  and  here  she  died.  In  her  back  parlor,  in  loving 
memory  of  her  husband,  she  had  placed  his  desk  with  the  little 
tray  and  the  pen,  grown  rusty,  also  his  chair  with  his  study  robe 
thrown  over  it.  In  this  room  were  such  books  as  she  had  chosen 
from  his  library. 

Francis  Power  Cobbe,  an  English  philanthropist  who  edited 
an  English  edition  of  Theodore  Parker's  works,  says  he  was  a 
teacher  of  those  cardinal  truths  of  religion  which  are  necessary  for 
our  soul's  higher  life.  Emerson  says:  "He  spoke  the  truth  as  he 
saw  it,  holding  back  nothing  through  fear  of  making  an  enemy." 

Theodore  Parker  was  a  pioneer  in  the  free  religious  movement 
that  is  pervading  the  world  today,  and  as  advanced  thinkers  in  the 


182 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

past  suffered  martyrdom,  so  Theodore  Parker,  though  not  sub- 
jected to  the  rack  and  the  fagot,  was  nevertheless  a  martyr  in 
his  day.  "But  ever  the  right  comes  uppermost  and  ever  is  justice 
done,"  and  after  sixty  years  his  teaching,  though  Hberal,  is  not 
heresy,  and  the  seed  which  he  sowed  is  bearing  fruit. 

Theodore  Parker  was  an  untiring  worker;  the  light  in  his 
study  could  often  be  seen  in  the  small  hours  of  the  night.  Seven- 
teen hours  he  would  give  to  brain  work,  and  his  days  were  not  idle, 
for  he  never  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  most  humble  supplicant. 
Once,  when  his  brother  remonstrated  with  him  for  his  overwork, 
he  drew  back  his  shoulders  and  said :  "I  am  strong ;  I  shall  live  to 
be  eighty."  It  seemed  to  me  that  he  regarded  laziness  as  the  un- 
pardonable sin.  In  his  thought  and  labor  for  humanity  he  forgot 
himself;  but  Mother  Nature  never  forgets,  and  the  transgressor 
of  her  laws  must  pay  the  penalty,  and  before  he  had  reached  his 
fiftieth  year  Theodore  Parker  died  in  Florence,  Italy,  where  he 
had  gone  hoping  to  prolong  his  life.  He  was  buried  in  the  little 
Protestant  cemetery,  which  was  then  outside  the  city  limits,  but 
modern  Florence  now  extends  around  and  beyond  it ;  but  the  quiet 
spot  where  so  many  of  the  world's  great  ones  lie  is  well  cared  for 
and  is  and  always  has  been  a  place  of  pilgrimage.  A  few  years 
ago  the  old  stone  that  marked  the  grave  of  Theodore  Parker  was 
replaced  by  a  new  and  larger  monument  bearing  his  portrait  in  low 
relief.  Friends  in  Boston  soon  after  his  death  had  a  monument 
marking  his  birthplace  placed  on  the  spot  where  his  early  Lexing- 
ton home  stood. 

In  this  anniversary  year  we  feel  that,  though  dead,  he  still 
speaks  to  us. 


ADDITIONAL  ADDRESSES  183 


Kh\\xtBB  bg  3F.  01.  g'outliuiortli,  1.  i. 

President  of  Meadville  Theological  School 


THE  ENLARGING  HORIZON  OF  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT 
SINCE  PARKER'S  TIME. 

[This  address,  prepared  for  the  occasion,  was  crowded  out  for  want 
of  time  in  delivery,  and  is  here  printed  as  a  legitimate  part  of  the 
program.] 

Among  the  ambitions  which  were  the  guiding  stars  of  Theo- 
dore Parker's  intellectual  life  was  that  of  writing  a  book,  of  which 
the  preoccupations  of  his  stormy  career  gave  him  time  enough  only 
to  compose  the  introduction.  Its  title  was  to  be  "The  Historical 
Development  of  Religion  in  the  History  of  Man."  Unquestion- 
ably the  world  is  poorer  today  because  Parker  was  unable  to  com- 
plete this  work.  For  he  would  have  brought  to  the  task  an  equip- 
ment such  as  probably  no  other  man  in  America  has  possessed  be- 
fore or  since.  When  Henry  Buckle  published,  in  1857,  his  great 
book  on  the  History  of  Civilization,  Parker  wrote  a  review  of  it 
for  the  Christian  Examiner  in  which  he  showed  his  undisguised 
delight  in  Buckle's  achievement.  This  delight  did  not  prevent  him, 
however,  from  expressing  his  regret  that  the  list  of  authors  quoted 
by  Mr.  Buckle — a  list  which  comprised  some  3,000  volumes — had 
been  so  meager  a  one,  and  from  supplementing  Buckle's  authorities 
by  a  long  list  of  French  and  German  treatises  which  ought,  in 
Parker's  opinion,  to  have  been  taken  into  consideration. 

In  his  Discourse  on  Religion,  published  eighteen  years  before 
his  death,  we  have  an  intimation  of  the  temper  and  spirit  with  which 
Parker  would  have  approached  a  work  of  this  kind.  It  is  there 
made  so  clear  that  he  \Vho  runs  may  read,  that  religion  is  not 
something  imposed  from  without,  but  something  which  grows  up 
from  within.  Its  acts  of  worship  as  well  as  its  beliefs  came  from 
inner  impulses  of  the  soul  quite  independently  of  any  external  reve- 
lation. Religion  is  inseparably  bound  up  with  human  nature.  The 
study  of  religious  phenomena  is  something  which  the  psychologist 
has  not  the  right  to  neglect. 

These  propositions,  so  successfully  defended  by  Parker  in  1842, 
are,  of  course,  commonplaces  in  1910.  Starting  as  he  did  from 
these  presuppositions  at  a  time  before  the  study  of  comparative 
religion  had  properly  begun,  we  may  well  regret  that  leisure  was 
not  accorded  him  to  write  the  book  on  the  Development  of  Re- 
ligion on  which  he  had  set  his  heart.    For  he  would  seem  in  many 


184 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

ways,  by  nature,  temperament  and  training,  to  have  had  the  his- 
torian's bent.  The  student  of  the  history  of  religion  needs  the 
capacity  for  sympathetic  appreciation  and  spiritual  discernment, 
and  tiiis  Parker  had.  In  order  to  study  many  religions  at  first 
hand  one  needs  to  know  many  languages,  and  this  again  Parker 
did.  The  historian  should  possess  a  retentive  memory,  and  be 
able  to  reason  inductively  from  facts  to  theories,  both  of  which 
qualifications  we  have  seen  that  Parker  possessed  in  generous  meas- 
ure. The  historian  ought  also  to  have  the  capacity  for  clear  and 
succinct  statement,  and  Parker  was  always  clear.  If.  with  such 
an  extraordinary  combination  of  qualities,  he  had  been  permitted 
to  give  the  labor  of  a  lifetime  to  the  completion  of  a  great  historical 
work,  the  world  would  doubtless  have  been  the  richer. 

In  these  meetings,  however,  the  watchword  seems  to  have 
been  not  backward  but  forward,  and  it  will  be  more  profitable  for 
us  to  note  the  progress  which  has  been  made  along  the  road  to 
which  Parker  pointed  the  way,  than  to  lament  the  uncompleted 
task  which  he  was  not  permitted  to  finish. 

We  have  been  told  how  Parker  declared  to  his  biographer, 
Francis  Power  Cobbe,  when  he  lay  at  the  point  of  death  in  Flor- 
ence: "There  are  two  Theodore  Parkers  now.  One  is  dying  here 
in  Italy;  the  other  I  have  planted  over  in  America.  He  will  stay 
and  complete  my  work."  If  these  words  were  a  prophecy  it  has 
been  fulfilled  in  more  senses  than  one.  For  during  the  fifty  years 
since  Parker's  death  not  only  in  America,  but  also  in  England  and 
Holland  and  France,  has  the  writing  of  this  book  on  the  Historical 
Development  of  Religion  in  the  history  of  man  gone  bravely  for- 
ward. Many  pens  have  collaborated  in  the  splendid  task,  and  a 
brilliant  company  of  scholars  have  arisen  to  give  valiant  support 
to  Parker's  great  contention  that  religion  is  an  inherent  possession 
of  the  human  soul,  and  that  the  two-fold  division  of  religions, 
which  had  been  in  vogue  before  his  time  into  those  which  are  true 
and  those  which  are  false,  is  now  no  longer  valid. 

Already,  before  Parker's  death,  had  the  epoch-making  work  of 
Max  Miiller  begun  at  Oxford,  in  the  editing  of  the  Sacred  Books 
of  the  East,  and  the  results  of  that  work  were  now  beginning  to 
appear.  Max  Miiller  inaugurated  in  Great  Britain  the  study  of 
comparative  philology  as  a  stepping  stone  to  the  study  of  com- 
parative religion.  Like  Parker,  he  was  not  permitted  to  give  his 
entire  time  to  the  most  engrossing  interest  of  his  life,  for  he  was 
a  professor,  not  of  comparative  religion,  but  of  philology.  His  work 
in  the  former  field  was  therefore  a  by-product.  But  the  importance 
of  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East  in  enlarging  the  horizon  of  re- 
ligious knowledge  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The  immediate 
outcome  was  a  greatly  increased  interest  in  comparative  religion 


ADDITIONAL  ADDRESSES 185 

throughout  the  English-speaking  world.  The  world  remembers,  in 
connection  with  this  brilliant  scholar,  the  public  esteem  which  was 
accorded  him  after  the  value  of  his  work  had  been  recognized.  It 
has  already  forgotten  in  large  measure  the  fierceness  with  which  his 
teachings  and  his  theories  were  at  first  attacked. 

It  was  so  recently  as  the  year  1870  that  Max  Miiller  gave 
his  memorable  lectures  on  comparative  religion  at  the  Royal  Insti- 
tution in  London,  and  the  real  beginning  of  comparative  religion 
as  a  science  may  be  said  to  have  been  at  that  time.  And  it  was 
only  a  year  later  that  an  Oxford  colleague,  Professor  E.  B.  Tylor, 
published  his  epoch-making  work  on  Primitive  Culture,  laying  down 
the  method  of  investigation  which  was  to  be  followed  by  subsequent 
workers  in  the  field  of  early  religions. 

But  the  leaven  was  working  now  in  other  parts  of  the  world, 
and  a  Dutch  scholar  from  the  University  of  Leyden  who  had 
already  attained  a  European  reputation  for  a  book  on  Zoroaster, 
Professor  C.  P.  Tiele,  published  in  1872  his  book  on  the  Compara- 
tive History  of  the  Religions  of  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia.  Like  his 
contemporary.  Max  Miiller,  who  was  only  a  few  years  his  senior, 
Tiele  was  not  only  a  distinguished  linguist,  but  also  a  master  of 
literary  style.  He  was  twice  called  to  Edinburgh  as  Gifford  lec- 
turer and  rendered  valiant  service  in  quickening  in  Great  Britain 
the  interest  in  comparative  religion  which  had  already  been 
created. 

Three  years  after  Professor  Tiele  had  been  appointed  to  his 
chair  in  Le3^den,  a  French  scholar,  Albert  Reville,  was  appointed 
to  a  similar  chair  in  I'aris.  Reville  was  born  in  the  same  year  as 
Max  Miiller,  and  from  the  year  1880  until  his  death  five  years  ago 
devoted  himself  to  a  study  of  the  religions  of  the  non-civilized  and 
imperfectly  civilized  peoples.  Some  of  us  may  remember  his  ad- 
dress at  the  Parliament  of  Religions  in  1893. 

These  are  three  of  the  pioneers  of  the  coming  universal  re- 
ligion, in  England,  in  Holland  and  in  France,  upon  whom  the 
mantle  of  Theodore  Parker  fell.  Other  names,  of  those  almost 
equally  distinguished,  might  also  have  been  mentioned.  If  the  list 
were  to  be  extended  it  would  include  in  a  conspicuous  place  the  late 
Professor  Robertson  Smith  of  Cambridge  University,  whose  book 
on  the  Religion  of  the  Semites  enabled  the  world  to  see  clearly 
for  the  first  time  the  place  of  the  religion  of  Israel  in  the  religious 
history  of  the  world.  And  it  would  include  also  the  names  of  two 
American  ministers,  James  Freeman  Clarke  and  Samuel  Johnson, 
whose  researches  in  the  non-Christian  faiths  have  done  much  to 
stimulate  a  sympathetic  interest  in  these  faiths  in  our  own  country. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  such  leadership,  interest  in  the  study  of 
comparative  religions  has  grown  apace  throughout  the  world.    The 


186 THEODORE    PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

great  universities  of  Germany,  curiously  enough,  where  it  was 
natural  to  look  for  the  protagonists  in  the  new  movement,  have 
been  slowest  to  respond  to  this  awakened  interest.  Holland,  on 
the  contrary,  owing,  perhaps,  to  the  impetus  received  from  Pro- 
fessor Tiele,  has  been  the  first.  In  each  of  its  four  universities 
chairs  of  comparative  religions  were  founded  in  1876.  Switzer- 
land, vying  with  Holland  in  its  hospitality  to  the  modern  spirit, 
established  chairs  at  Basle  and  Lausanne.  The  universities  of 
Brussels  and  Copenhagen  followed  suit.  In  Victoria  University  at 
Manchester,  Professor  Rhys  Davids  has  been  the  distinguished  in- 
cumbent of  the  chair  of  comparative  religion  since  1904.  The 
Imperial  University  of  Japan  was  not  to  be  outdone  by  her  older 
sisters,  and  in  America,  Boston  University,  Cornell  University 
and  the  universities  of  New  York  and  Chicago  were  pioneers  in 
introducing  the  new   science. 

The  college  has  been  slower  than  the  university  in  our  own 
country  in  introducing  its  members  to  this  branch  of  culture,  but 
even  in  the  college  the  study  of  the  history  of  religions,  if  not  yet 
the  study  of  comparative  religion,  is  slowly  making  its  way.  The 
beginnings  are  frequently  hesitating  and  timid,  as,  for  example,  in 
a  vigorous  young  college  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  catalog  announces 
under  the  heading  of  comparative  religion :  "While  the  religions 
of  the  barbarians  and  of  the  civilized  nations  are  studied,  and  the 
relations  of  the  various  religions  to  one  another  are  considered,  it 
is  ever  remembered  that  the  true  religion  is  the  one  revealed  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  the 
eternal  character  of  the  latter  over  against  the  transitory  nature 
of  the  former  is  made  prominent."  In  other  institutions  where  a 
similar  bias  exists  it  is  not  quite  so  frankly  admitted  as  here.  It 
is  enough,  however,  for  the  present  that  the  beginning  has  been 
made.  The  time  spirit  will  see  to  it  that  the  scientific  method  shall 
ultimately  prevail. 

Moreover,  there  is  reason  for  rejoicing  that  in  the  theological 
seminary,  as  well  as  in  the  university  and  the  college,  the  com- 
parative study  of  non-Christian  religions  has  been  instituted. 
Charles  Carroll  Everett  began  to  lecture  on  this  subject  in  the 
Harvard  Divinity  School  in  1872,  and  Estlin  Carpenter  in  Man- 
chester College,  Oxford,  four  years  later.  In  1891  George  R. 
Freeman  inaugurated  a  similar  work  at  the  Meadville  Theological 
School.  This  good  example  was  followed  by  three  congregational 
seminaries  in  England,  namely,  Mansfield  College  at  Oxford,  and 
by  Hackney  and  New  Colleges  in  London,  and  on  our  own  side 
of  the  water  chairs  of  comparative  religion  have  been  founded  for 
several  years  at  the  theological  schools  of  Boston  University  and 
the  University  of  Chicago,  as  well  as  at  Union  and  the  Chicago 


ADDITIONAL  ADDRESSES 187 

Theological  Seminary.  I  will  not  take  the  time  today  even  to 
mention  by  name  the  seminaries  which  have  established  such  chairs 
in  more  recent  years. 

Another  effective  instrument  for  broadening  the  religious  hori- 
zon of  the  race  by  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  concerning  the 
history  of  religions  has  been  the  lecture  platform.  In  1878  the 
Hibbert  Lectures  were  established  in  England,  ten  years  later  the 
Gifford  Lectures  in  Scotland,  and  in  1891  were  inaugurated  the 
American  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Religions,  to  be  given  by 
distinguished  specialists  on  one  or  another  of  the  great  religions 
of  the  world  in  selected  centers  of  the  United  States.  Not  only 
have  these  lectures  disseminated  knowledge  among  the  people  con- 
cerning religions  of  which  they  were  previously  ignorant,  but  they 
have  also  been  the  means  of  putting  into  printed  form  from  year 
to  year  facts  and  deductions  which  were  previously  inaccessible. 
From  all  parts  of  the  world  have  the  lecturers  been  summoned,  and 
a  magnificent  library  is  coming  into  being  as  a  result  of  the  re- 
searches which  have  been  undertaken  in  the  interest  of  these  lec- 
tureships. Of  the  Barrows  lectureship  in  the  University  of  Chicago 
it  would  be  superfluous  for  me  to  speak  in  this  place. 

But  modern  education  makes  its  appeal  to  the  eye  as  well  as 
to  the  ear,  and  the  student  of  comparative  religion  in  our  time  in 
London,  in  Boston,  in  Chicago  or  Paris,  or  elsewhere,  has  an 
unrivaled  opportunity  to  carry  on  his  work  in  the  midst  of  the 
very  objects  of  worship  and  the  very  simulacra  of  religion  whose 
secrets  he  is  trying  to  fathom.  In  our  own  generation  the  museum 
has  claimed  for  itself  a  place  as  an  agency  for  unfolding  the  re- 
ligious history  of  man,  of  quite  unique  importance.  Museums  of 
ethnology  are  rapidly  appearing  in  the  great  centers  of  learning, 
and  it  is  becoming  customary  to  establish  in  connection  with  them 
separate  departments  devoted  to  the  history  of  religion.  In  the 
Guimet  Museum  in  Paris  an  entire  building  is  thus  set  apart ;  and 
the  facilities  it  offeis,  together  with  the  lectures  at  the  Sorbonne 
and  at  the  College  de  France,  have  for  several  years  made  Paris, 
for  the  student  of  comparative  religion,  the  most  important  center 
in  the  world.  It  was  fitting  that  the  international  gathering  of 
scholars  who  were  interested  in  this  subject  should  have  been 
held  in  Paris  in  1900,  and  the  result  of  this  and  subsequent  meet- 
ings of  this  growing  company  of  savants  has  been  undoubtedly  to 
quicken  and  to  clarify  the  interest  in  comparative  religion  through- 
out the  world. 

By  the  efforts  of  these  and  others  like  them  a  new  era  in 
religious  thought  has  been  ushered  in  during  the  years  since 
Parker  died.  Intolerance  and  exclusiveness  in  this  realm  have 
given  way  to  sympathy  and  hospitality  everywhere.     It  was  no  less 


188 THEODORE    PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

a  man  than  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  who  declared,  "The  two  objects 
of  curiosity  are  the  Christian  world  and  the  Mohammedan  world ; 
all  the  rest  may  be  considered  as  barbarous."  But  his  words  sound 
now  like  a  voice  from  the  distant  past,  and  even  the  phrase  of  Sir 
Monier  Williams,  the  Oxford  Orientalist,  in  which  he  referred  to 
Brahminism,  Buddhism  and  Mohammedanism  as  "the  three  chief 
false  religions,"  seems  now  curiously  out  of  date.  For  the  world 
now  knows,  as  it  did  not  know  fifty  years  ago,  that  religions  are 
not  the  result  of  the  perverse  activity  of  priests  who  promote  them 
as  a  means  of  self-support,  nor  are  they  the  shrewd  device  of 
rulers  adopted  as  a  method  of  policing  their  subjects,  but  that  they 
arise  and  grow  on  account  of  some  essential  truth  at  their  core, 
and  begin  to  decay  only  when  that  truth  has  been  encrusted  with 
error  or  is  no  longer  necessary  for  the  well-being  of  its  adherents. 
Christion  missionaries  are  no  longer  accustomed  to  speak  of  the 
claims  put  forth  by  Christianity  as  duplicated  by  the  "blasphemous" 
claims  of  other  faiths,  nor  do  even  the  representatives  of  Roman 
Catholicism  in  non-Christian  countries  refer  to  monasticism,  the 
mass  and  the  rosary  or  other  religious  rites  which  are  in  use  among 
the  natives,  as  "mocking  devices  of  the  devil." 

The  missionary  must  now  be  able  to  teach  as  well  as  to 
preach.  He  must  erect  hospitals,  introduce  printing  presses,  trans- 
late books  and  pamphlets,  establish  schools,  and  act  as  advisor  at 
the  courts  of  kings.  That  there  is  room  for  such  a  work  as  ^his 
in  our  age  of  commercialism  and  militarism  I  surely  do  not  need 
to   demonstrate. 

Such  are  some  of  the  ways  in  which  our  religious  horizon  has 
widened  since  Parker's  time,  and  such  are  some  of  the  results  of 
this  widening.  Since  he  died  there  has  arisen  into  historic  view 
a  great  panorama  of  religions  of  which  the  world  had  been  igno- 
rant. Whole  sacred  literatures,  hitherto  undreamed  of,  have 
emerged  out  of  silence  and  darkness.  The  temples  and  tombs  of 
Egypt,  the  mounds  of  Mesopotamia,  the  vast  libraries  at  India, 
China  and  Thibet  have  yielded  up  their  treasures  ;  and  each  dis- 
covery has  meant  the  restriction  of  the  realm  of  ignorance  and 
intolerance  and  exclusiveness,  and  the  lessening  of  race  prejudice. 

Into  this  promised  land  of  actual  knowledge  of  the  ways  in 
which  the  nations  of  the  world  have  sought  after  God,  it  was  not 
permitted  Theodore  Parker  to  enter ;  but  he  was  permitted,  like 
Moses,  to  ascend  the  mountain  and  to  see  and  greet  it  from  afar. 


®nlg  tlinsp  rplrbraJtnttH  arr  Ifvrt  mtntianth  as 

nirrr  rrpflrtrii  in  anv  wag  or  anutljf  r  to 

ti^t  rom;itI^ra  of  tijta  nolum^ 


OTHER  CELEBRATIONS  191 


®X)i\n  5II|wb0r?  Parker  01^ b brattnttB 

IN  CHICAGO 

Frederick  Douglass  Center,  3032  Wabash  Ave.— Two  meetings  at  the 
Frederick  Douglass  Center  and  one  at  Bethel  Church  constituted  a  pleasant 
aftermath  of  the  Parker  memorial  and  served  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  those 
who  now  know  Theodore  Parker  and  gratefully  claim  him  as  their  own. 
Mr.  Isaac  Fisher  is  a  devoted  disciple  of  Booker  T.  Washington.  He  stands 
unreservedly  for  the  work  of  race  construction  on  all  lines  of  educational 
and  social  uplift.  At  the  banquet  on  Thursday  evening  he  was  received 
with  prolonged  applause  and  hearty  enthusiasm. 

A  semi-social  gathermg  met  in  his  honor  at  the  Douglass  Center  on 
Friday  evening  and  was  well  attended.  Sunday  afternoon  he  spoke  at  the 
regular  service  on  "Weeping  and  Progress,"  taking  the  same  grounds  of 
confident  hope  for  his  race  and  belief  in  their  coming  destiny  as  before. 

The  Parker  memorial  would  have  missed  its  most  striking  and  sug- 
gestive features  had  the  negro's  contribution  and  the  review  of  the  great 
liberator's  labors  for  the  slave  been  left  out.  The  friends  and  members  of 
the  Frederick  Douglass  Center  felt  this,  and  it  was  both  a  privilege  and  a 
duty  to  express  this  feeling  in  the  following  resolution : 

Chicago,  November  18,  1910. 

The  members  of  the  Frederick  Douglass  Center  and  the  colored  people 
of  Chicago,  Illinois,  sincerely  appreciating  the  generous  spirit  of  Dr.  Jenkin 
Lloyd  Jones  in  making  it  possible  for  Prof.  Isaac  Fisher  of  Arkansas,  to  be 
one  of  the  guests  and  orators  of  the  Theodore  Parker  anniversaries  held 
in  Chicago  during  the  week  ending  Thursday,  November  17,  1910. 

Be  It  Resolved,  That  we  extend  to  Dr.  Jones  assurances  of  our  deep 
.<!ense  of  obligation  for  the  noble  spirit  of  fraternity  and  fellowship  as  shown 
in  the  deserved  honors  accorded  to  Professor  Fisher. 

We  believe  that  this  convocation  of  scholars  eminent  in  all  walks  of  life 
splendidly  exemplified  the  brotherhood  spirit  of  Theodore  Parker's  deeds  as 
a  valiant  champion  of  the  rights  of  men  and  women  to  "life,  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness." 

Be  It  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  to  Dr.  Jenkin 
Lloyd  Jones  and  that  they  be  also  spread  upon  the  records  of  the  Frederick 
Douglass  Center. 

Celia  Parker  Woolley,  President- 
S.  Laing  Williams,  Secretary. 


Unitarian  Associated  Alliance  of  Chicago  met  at  the  Memorial 
Chapel  with  the  Alliance  of  the  First  Church,  on  Thursday,  December  1.  A 
brief  devotional  service  was  conducted  by  Rev.  W.  Hi  Pulsford.  The  Parker 
program  was  in  charge  of  Mrs.  E.  A.  Gray.  Mrs.  Martha  Parker  Dingee 
gave  her  personal  recollections  of  Theodore  Parker,  printed  elsewhere.  Ex- 
tracts were  then  read  from  an  address  on  Parker  given  in  Boston,  June  15, 
1860,  and  one  given  in  Philadelphia,  May  10,   1910. 

Rev.  Fred.  V.  Hawley  of  Unity  Church  spoke  as  follows: 

"Holding  No  Forms  Of  Creed,  But  Contemplating  All." 

From  the  beginning  of  my  study  of  his  life  and  writings,  Theodore 
Parker  has  appealed  to  me  as  an  enthusiast.  He  seems  to  have  had  the 
absorbing  and  persistent  zeal  that  is  generally  attributed  to  bigots.  During 
the  recent  Parker  anniversaries  a  friend  said,  "I  wonder  how  many  of  the 


192 THEODORE   PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

so-called  liberal  people  attending  these  meetings  really  care  about  the  per- 
petuation of  Parker's  principles  or  any  other  religious  principles,  whether 
broad  or  narrow?"  I,  too,  wished  one  might  know  how  many  people  get 
called  "liberal"'  today,  simply  because  they  no  longer  care  about  any  religion 
whatsoever.  Where  there  is  no  faith,  all  differences  cease.  One  form  is  as 
good  as  another  when  all  are  without  value;  and  all  are  without  value  when 
one  does  not  care  which  he  has,  or  whether  he  has  any.  One  Sunday  school 
is  quite  as  good  as  another  to  the  parent  who  does  not  care  to  influence 
the  faith  of  his  child.  Such  attitude  means  that  the  parent  has  no  faith 
worth  mentioning.  That  fact  the  child  knows  too  and  he  intuitively  chooses 
for  himself  another  church — provided  he  can  find  one  for  which  people  really 
do  care.  Parker  was  in  terrible  earnest.  He  apparently  felt  there  were 
some  truths  worth  living  for  as  long  as  he  could  and  worth  dying  for  when 
he  must.  This  fact  made  him  a  trying  proposition  for  many  Unitarians.  It 
has  been  stated  that  his  preaching  helped  to  fill  up  the  pews  of  Boston 
Episcopal  Churches  with  people  driven  from  the  ranks  of  Unitarians.  I 
do  not  know  that  this  is  so,  but  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  believe.  He 
really  cared.  He  certainly  had  the  bigot's  zeal  and  that  is  something  in- 
scrutable. The  question  arises,  is  it  possible  to  have  the  bigot's  zeal  with- 
out the  bigot's  narrowness?  Many  people  apparently  think  not.  I  think  it 
is  possible,  but  I  frankly  admit  that  it  is  a  condition  seldom  realized. 

For  the  philosophic  complacency  which  has  no  particular  choice  because 
its  superior  vision  deems  one  way  quite  as  good  as  another,  what  stimulus 
is  there  for  action?  Apparently  nothing  gives  it  initial  movement  except 
an  occasional  resentment  against  the  vulgarity  of  earnestness.  What  else 
closed  the  doors  of  Boston  Unitarian  churches  against  Theodore  Parker? 
Why  should  any  man  connected  with  the  historic  breadth,  culture  and  ease 
of  Unitarianism  be  so  doggedly  persistent  and  uncomfortable?  The  display 
of  such  terrible  earnestness  was  considered  a  lack  of  taste.  What  real  Uni- 
tarian could  ever  so  far  forget  himself,  even  in  the  interest  of  truth  and 
freedom,  as  to  indulge  in  fiery  denunciation?  Such  an  one  must  surely  be 
heterodox !  I  like  to  think  that  now  in  Unitarianism  there  is  neither  ortho- 
doxy nor  heterodoxy;  that  every  soul  therein  is  left  free  to  conceive  and 
utter  its  highest  visions.  I  believe  this  is  true  and  I  try  to  appreciate  the 
breadth  and  freedom  of  our  position.  Sometimes,  however,  I  cannot  help 
wishing  that  the  people  who  now  make  Parker  a  patron  saint  and  are  ban- 
queting to  his  memory,  might  learn  to  really  care  as  he  seemed  to  care  and 
to  develop  something  akin  to  the  bigot's  zeal,  without  the  bigot's  narrow- 
ness. 


K.  A.  M.  Temple,  Tobias  Schanfarber,  Rabbi.— A  Theodore  Parker 
centenary  celebration  was  held  at  this  temple  Saturday  morning,  November 
12.  A  special  sermon  was  given  on  that  occasion  bearing  on  the  life  work 
of  the  great  preacher-prophet.  Special  attention  was  given  to  the  utterances 
of  Parker  touching  his  conception  of  Judaism.  Broadly  liberal  in  all  mat- 
ters of  religion,  it  was  plain  that  he  held  that  Judaism  formed  an  arrested 
development.  Whenever  speaking  of  the  world  religions  by  way  of  contrast 
or  comparison,  he  frequently  coupled  Judaism  with  Heathenism.  It  was 
clear  that  he  had  not  the  least  conception  of  the  reform  movement  in  Juda- 
ism formed  in  Germany  about  the  time  of  his  birth,  starting  with  such  men 
as  Geiger,  Holdheim,  Einhorn  and  others.  So  that  while  his  idealistic  soul 
was  surcharged  with  the  tolerant  spirit,  it  was  narrow  when  it  came  to  the 
matter  of  Judaism.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  despite  his  attitude  to- 
ward Judaism,  that  the  first  word  that  was  spoken  relative  to  the  Chicago 
celebration  was  uttered  in  a  Jewish  pulpit.  Parker  did  not  belong  to  one 
religion — he  belonged  to  all  of  them.  None  reveres  his  memory  more  than 
the  liberal  Jew. 


OTHER  CELEBRATIONS 193 

The  First  Swedish  Unitarian  Church,  Chicago,  August  Dellgren, 
Pastor. — The  centennial  of  the  birth  of  Theodore  Parker  was  celebrated  Sun- 
day, November  13,  at  Wells  Hall,  3140  North  Clark  St.,  in  the  forenoon, 
when  I  spoke  in  Swedish  on  his  great  work  as  a  preacher  and  reformer, 
and  we  read  a  responsive  service  on  "the  great  and  good." 


Isaiah  Temple,  Joseph  Stolz,  Rabbi. — On  November  13,  Prof.  Maitra 
of  Calcutta,  occupied  the  pulpit  of  Isaiah  Temple.  He  referred  to  Theodore 
Parker  as  a  great  teacher,  emphasizing  the  underlying,  universal,  eternal  prin- 
ciples of  religion  common  alike  to  the  Orient  and  Occident. 


University  Congregational  Church,  O.  C.  Helming,  Pastor. — A  Theo- 
dore Parker  centenary  service  was  held  in  the  University  Congregational 
Church,  Sunday  evening,  November  13,  under  the  auspices  of  a  committee 
consisting  of  Prof.  J.  H.  Tufts  and  E.  S.  Ames,  and  Revs.  J.  H.  Pulsford 
and  O.  C.  Helming.  The  occasion  drew  together  a  considerable  audience 
from  the  university  and  the  neighboring  churches  who  listened  with  great 
interest  and  marked  approval  to  the  addresses  provided.  Edwin  D.  Mead 
spoke  upon  The  Influence  of  Parker,  showing  its  effect  upon  religion  and 
theology,  and  its  power  in  the  cause  of  freedom  and  righteousness.  While 
that  influence  was  most  direct  in  New  England,  it  nevertheless  reached  every 
corner  of  the  country,  and  indeed  reached  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  It  was 
felt  to  a  marked  degree  in  the  middle  west,  and  had  its  immediate  efifect 
upon  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  received  very  vital  impulses  from  that  source. 

Prof.  H.  C.  Maitra,  of  Calcutta,  India,  stirred  the  audience  with  a  most 
practical  demonstration  of  the  influence  of  Parker  upon  the  Oriental  view 
of  life  and  of  social  service.  He  is  himself  the  embodiment  of  common 
sense  and  a  well  balanced  mind.  He  attributed  to  Parker  the  influence  which 
is  saving  large  sections  of  thoughtful  Hindus  from  the  weakness  of  a  too 
contemplative  and  mystical  life,  and  turning  their  energies  into  practical 
channels  of  thought  and  service. 


JN  SUBURBAN  CENTERS 

First  Universalist  Church,  Elgin,  111.,  A.  N.  Foster,  Pastor. — A  spe- 
cial sermon  was  preached  April  10,  1910,  on  Theodore  Parker,  the  Radical. 
Theodore  Parker  exemplified  that  moral  greatness  which  appeals  to  the 
affections,  which  inspires  love  of  ideals  and  commands  loyalty  of  diciple- 
fthip.  He  was  a  leader  of  the  thought  of  his  generation  and  an  inspirer  o£ 
the  moral  earnestness  which  directed  personal  conduct  and  shaped  national 
poHcies. 

His  published  works  make  but  a  partial  statement  of  the  range  of  his 
public  activities.  He  vigorously  championed  the  cause  of  peace  and  ex- 
posed the  fallacies  and  iniquities  of  war  as  a  method  of  settling  national 
disputes.  With  discriminating  power  he  worked  for  the  advancement  of 
educational  methods.  He  anticipated  the  work  of  modern  prison  reform 
and  Samuel  G.  Howe  was  one  of  his  parishioners.  He  studied  searchingly 
the  conditions  and  causes  of  poverty  and  shared  the  confidence  and  regard 
of  Charles  Loring  Brace,  the  pioneer  worker  of  children's  societies  and  boys' 
clubs  in  New  York  City.  He  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  classics  and 
the  mythologies  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  His  public  utterance  dealt  with  the 
evils  of  the  temperance  question  and  of  the  homeless  classes.  Social  reform 
appealed  to  him  no  less  then  poetry  and  philosophy.  His  mind  knew  the 
lessons  of  great  epochs  of  history.  Such  versatility  of  interest  and  effort 
was  as  a  corollary  drawn  from  his  gospel,  which  itself  was  made  of  uni- 
versal concerning  God,  man,  duty,  and  truth.  It  has  been  most  unfortunate 
that  so  many  people  have  known  of  Parker's  destructive  work  only.  He 
has  been  represented  as  a  relentless  and  impious  critic.     Certainly  his  power- 


194 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

ful  rebuke  of  sin  in  conventional  circles  had  the  effect  of  a  moral  tonic;  yet, 
the  greater  part  of  the  work  of  this  renowned  preacher  and  lecturer  was 
constructive.  He  welcomed — almost  anticipated  the  results  of  Darwin's 
scientific  researches,  and  the  latter's  "Origin  of  Species"  was  published  only 
a  few  months  before  Parker's  death.  The  reformer  who  can  command  at- 
tention because  of  clear,  precise  and  comprehensive  utterance  which  instructs 
the  mind  and  stirs  the  conscience,  is  a  marked  leader.  If  to  such  ability 
there  be  added  the  sweetness  and  the  reverent,  holy  trust  of  a  devotional 
nature,  a  character  of  approved  strength  and  tender  sympathy  is  made  to 
appear.  It  would  appear  that  such  influences  were  blended  in  the  personality 
of  Theodore  Parker.  In  the  preface  to  a  little  volume  of  his  published 
prayers,  Louisa  M.  Alcott  speaks  of  "the  slow,  soft  folding  of  the  hands, 
the  reverent  bowing  of  the  good  gray  head ;  the  tears  that  sometimes  veiled 
the  voice ;  the  simplicity,  frankness  and  devout  earnestness  which  made  both 
words  and  manner  wonderfully  eloquent." 

If  Theodore  Parker  were  living  today  would  he  be  satisfied  with  the 
attitude  of  the  Unitarian  and  Universalist  churches?  Would  he  be  a  prohi- 
bitionist, a  socialist,  a  single  taxer,  an  imperialist? 

To  ask  such  questions  is  to  invite  the  speculation  which  is  never  able 
to  force  a  decisive  answer.  It  may  safely  be  assumed  that  his  course  would 
be  determined  by  reliance  on  those  general  principles  of  democracy  in  the 
state  and  in  the  church  which  magnify  the  worth  of  individual  judgment 
and  insist  on  the  application  of  the  moral  law  to  economic  life. 


Winnetka  Congregational  Church,  Edwin  F.  Snell  and  J.  W.  F.  Davies, 
Pastors. — Rev.  Charles  E.  Beals  was  the  speaker  at  the  Winnetka  Con- 
gregational Church  on  the  subject  "Lessons  Gathered  from  the  Parker  Me- 
morial." He  pleaded  for  interest  in  progressive  prophet-like  men  of  the 
type  of  Parker.  He  characterized  Parker  as  a  fighter  true  to  his  ancestors 
and  no  molly-coddle,  a  prophet  of  peace  and  a  member  of  the  early  peace 
society,  a  real  economist  and  a  great  democrat. 


Garrett  Biblical  Institute,  Evanston,  111, — The  meeting  virhich  Mr. 
Edward  D.  Mead  addressed  was  wholly  the  student  body  of  Garrett  Biblical 
Institute,  numbermg  about  150.  The  address  was  exceptionally  well  received. 
Mr.  Mead  had  a  message  of  civic  righteousness,  and  he  handled  his  subject 
well  and  as  one  who  knew  the  truth  of  his  message  from  experience.  He 
showed  how  Theodore  Parker  was  a  champion  of  "The  Higher  Patriotism" 
he  was  advocating.  Theodore  Parker  was  the  orator  in  the  pulpit  against 
slavery,  while  others  opposed  it  in  the  Senate.  In  brief,  he  pointed  out  how 
Parker  was  a  leader  in  social  and  moral  reform,  even  in  so  modern  a  reform 
as  war  against  war.     His  address  was  certainly  appreciated. 


First  Congregationalist  Church,  Evanston,  111.,  W.  T.  McElveen, 
Pastor. — Dr.  McElveen,  the  pastor,  conducted  the  devotional  service, 
using,  as  Rabbi  Fleischer  afterwards  said,  much  of  the  old  Hebraic  ritual 
in  prayer  and  response  and  scripture  reading.  Rabbi  Fleischer  spoke  on 
"Free  Religion,"  referring  to  the  services  of  Theodore  Parker,  the  great 
Boston  divine,  with  whom  the  Unitarians  would  not  fellowship  while  he  lived 
and  labored,  and  whom  they  now  honor.  Theodore  Parker  was  called  a 
heretic,  when  in  some  respects  he  would  be  considered  quite  orthodox  now. 

Rabbi  Fleischer  spoke  very  frankly,  indicating  that  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity were  but  preparatory  to  a  better  universal  religion.  He  commended 
highly  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  His  every  reference  to  the  central  personality 
of  Christianity  was  respectful,  but  he  insisted  that  all  our  little  systems 
would  have  their  day  and  cease  to  be.  Rabbi  Fleischer  is  so  radical  and 
liberal  that  he  is  to  leave  his  great  synagogue  in  Boston,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  new  year.  He  recently  said  to  his  own  people:  "I  am  too  radical  for 
sectarianism ;  I  stand  for  complete  universalism." 


OTHER  CELEBRATIONS 195 

St.  John's  Universalist  Church,  Jolict,  111.,  H.  W.  Reed,  Pastor.— On 

Sunday  evening,  May  8,  1910,  Mr.  H.  M.  Crosbie,  president  of  the  laymen's 
league  of  our  church,  delivered  a  lecture  on  Theodore  Parker.  It  was  well 
received  by  a  good  sized  audience. 


Unity  Church,  Oak  Park,  111.,  S.   G.  Dunham,  Pastor.— "Theodore 

Parker,  Prophet  of  Peace,"  was  the  subject  of  an  address  delivered  Friday 
night  before  the  fellowship  club  of  Unity  Church  in  Unity  House  by  the 
Rev.  Charles  E.  Beals,  secretary  of  the  Chicago  peace  society.  The  occasion 
was  to  celebrate  the  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Theodore  Parker, 
the  great  controversialist  and  pioneer  of  liberal  religious  philosophy,  which 
is  being  commemorated  in  Chicago  and  vicinity  in  the  Parker  centenary  ex- 
ercises. 

Dr.  Denman,  present  as  a  guest  of  the  fellowship  club,  responding  to  a 
request  from  Dr.  Dunham,  spoke  of  the  inspiration  gained  in  the  presence 
of  a  great  man  such  as  Parker  was.  "The  incarnation  of  God's  greatest  Son 
is  typical  of  the  incarnation  of  truth  in  the  souls  of  all  great  men,"  he  said. 

The  Rev.  Harry  L.  Ward  of  the  Euclid  Avenue  Methodist  Church,  re- 
ferring to  Parker's  work  for  democracy,  suggested  that  there  was  much 
work  yet  to  be  done  in  that  cause;  that  there  was  a  vast  section  of  the  pop- 
ulation of  Chicago  that  found  our  democracy  a  dream  and  a  myth ;  there 
was  need  to  make  it  real  to  them.  Dr.  W.  H.  McGlauflin  also  paid  a  tribute 
to  Parker. 

First  Universalist  Church  of  Peoria,  111.,  Barlow  G.  Carpenter, 
Pastor. — The  Theodore  Parker  anniversary  was  celebrated  on  Sunday 
morning,  January  1,  1911. 

Unitarian  Church,  Geneseo,  111.,  D.  M.  Kirkpatrick,  Pastor. — "Theo- 
dore Parker — Liberalizing  Liberals,"  was  the  subject  of  the  sermon  for  No- 
vember 13,  1910. 

Lithia  Springs,  111. — Jasper  L.  Douthit  conducted  memorial  services 
in  Chautauqua  Chapel  on  November  27,  in  which  he  coupled  the  name  of 
Lincoln  and  Parker  as  being  co-workers  for  righteousness. 


IN  OHIO 


First  Universalist  Church,  Dayton,  O.,  Henrietta  D.  Moore,  Pastor. 

— December  11,  1910,  was  Theodore  Parker  day.  A  responsive  service  was 
arranged  and  each  member  of  the  congregation  contributed  something  con- 
cerning Theodore  Parker's  life  and  work. 


Unitarian  Church,  Marietta,  O.,  E.  A.  Coil,  Pastor. — November  22 
was  Theodore  Parker  day.  I  tried  to  show  my  people  the  long  step  forward 
that  has  been  taken  in  the  last  hundred  years,  and  the  inspiration  thereto 
that  Parker  has  been.  In  my  sermon  I  said :  "One  hundred  years  have 
elapsed  since  Parker  was  born,  sixty-nine  since  he  preached  the  South  Bos- 
ton sermon,  and  now  people  of  nearly  all  churches  and  religions  unite  to  do 
him  honor.  He  raised  and  affirmatively  answered  the  question:  Is  not  Jesus 
our  brother,  the  son  of  man  as  we  are;  the  son  of  God  like  ourselves?  and 
the  heresy  hunters  of  his  day  shouted  'Sacrilege,'  and  prayed  that  he  might 
be  silenced.  Today  it  is  being  more  and  more  clearly  seen  that  the  logic 
of  the  doctrine  proclaimed  in  the  South  Boston  sermon  is  the  universal 
fatherhood  of  God  and  brotherhood  of  man.  At  the  time  that  sermon  was 
preached  it  was  quite  generally  taught  that  man  was  not  the  child  of  God 


196 THEODORE    PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

by  nature,  but  that  he  might  become  so  by  adoption,  and  that  only  those 
adopted  were  in  truth  brethren.  Theodore  Parker  struck  a  masterful  blow 
at  that  doctrine  so  prolific  of  sectarianism  and  all  the  bitterness  and  strife  of 
sectarianism  breeds,  and  proclaimed  a  brotherhood  co-extensive  with  man- 
kind. The  seed  of  present-day  religious  parliaments,  church  federations,  and 
international  congresses  of  religion  is  to  be  found  in  the  South  Boston  ser- 
mon. Once  recognize  Jesus  as  the  son  of  man  as  we  are,  the  son  of  God 
like  ourselves,  and  all  that  we  see,  and  more,  in  the  way  of  liberalizing  and 
unifying  the  religious  forces  of  the  world,  naturally  follows." 


First  Unitarian  Church,  Cleveland,  O.,  Monot  Simons,  Pastor. — Sun- 
day, October  9,  was  Theodore  Parker  day.  Tlie  minister  dwelt  upon  the 
great  spirit  of  Parker  and  the  fundamental  elements  of  his  leadership. 


OTHER  POINTS  IN  THE  MIDDLE  WEST 

Unitarian  Church,  Erie,  Pa.,  T.  P.  Byrnes,  Pastor. — Memorial  serv- 
ice was  held  June  5,  1910,  the  subject  being  "Theodore  Parker,  Preacher, 
Poet,  Prophet  and  Reformer."  There  was  a  large  attendance  and  the  occa- 
sion proved  to  be  a  source  of  strength  and  inspiration. 


Universalis!  Church.  Stoughton,  Wis.,  N.  E.  McLaughlin,  Pastor. — 

Parker  services  May  8,  1910. 


f  r^aa  Nnttr^a 


PRESS  NOTICES  199 


{Unity,  November  3,  1910) 

A  meeting  of  the  advisory  committee  appointed  by  the  Chicago  commit- 
tee of  one  hundred  to  welcome  the  above  named  Congress,  was  held  last 
Monday  in  the  directors'  room  of  the  Corn  Exchange  Bank,  as  guests  ot 
the  chairman,  Mr.  Charles  L.  Hutchinson.  There  were  present  Messrs.  C.  L. 
Hutchinson,  Clifford  W.  Barnes,  D.  M.  Lord,  Charles  E.  Beals,  Judge  Mack, 
and  Mr.  Adolph  Kraus,  of  the  committee,  and  Doctor  Hirsch,  Rabbi  Stolz 
and  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  representing  the  Congress  of  Religion. 

In  our  next  week's  issue,  we  hope  to  give  a  detailed  program  of  the 
exercises.  Societies  and  clubs  contemplating  a  recognition  of  Theodore 
Parker  in  conneciion  with  these  exercises  are  asked  to  send  for  information 
to  the  Unity  office.  The  editor,  who  has  charge  of  the  details  of  the  pro- 
gram, will  be  glad  to  furnish  information  concerning  available  speakers  from 
abroad  in  the  city  during  congress  week. 

Meanwhile,  we  would  like  to  emphasize  some  of  the  interesting  personal- 
ities that  the  Congress  will  call  together.  Concerning  Professor  Maitra,  a 
correspondent  intimately  acquainted  with  the  higher  life  of  India,  says:  "He 
is  not  only  a  man  of  eminence  at  home,  but  he  is  a  strong  man  and  most 
uplifting  preacher  anywhere.  He  will  not  disappoint  the  Chicago  friends. 
He  brings  with  him  from  India  the  same  living  and  uplifting  message  of 
God  and  the  soul  that  Mozoomdar  brought.  He  has  a  larger  knowledge 
and  wider  acquaintance  with  the  best  literature  of  England,  America  and 
the  continent  than  Mozoomdar  had,  and  he  is  a  more  practical  man.  He 
is  a  very  energetic  and  efficient  educator  as  well  as  an  eminent  writer  and 
speaker.  Show  him  the  work  done  in  Chicago,  and  he  will  do  the  same 
for  you  when  you  go  to  India." 

Mr.  Sullivan,  who  comes  from  Kansas  City,  was  a  Catholic  priest,  whose 
interest  in  Modernism  has  brought  him  into  the  open  faith  and  the  free  life 
of  the  intellect.  He  is  described  as  a  man  of  spiritual  insight  and  delicate 
sensibilities. 

President  Fisher,  of  Branch  Normal  College  of  Pine  Bluff,  Ark.,  is  said 
to  be  the  only  colored  man  who  has  ever  won  prizes  for  essay  work  done 
on  subjects  not  connected  with  the  interests  of  the  negro  race.  He  won 
the  second  prize  of  $100.00  offered  by  the  Manufacturers'  Record  of  Balti- 
more for  a  study  on  Good  Roads.  He  won  the  second  prize  of  $400.00 
offered  by  Hart,  Schaffner  &  Marx  of  Chicago  for  the  best  paper  entitled, 
"German  and  American  Methods  of  Regulating  Trusts."  This  prize  was 
intended  primarily  for  college  graduates,  but  open  to  all  applicants.  Mr. 
Fisher,  who  is  one  of  the  graduates  of  Booker  T.  Washington's  Institute  at 
Tuskegee,  was  the  only  competitor  who  held  no  academic  degree.  Some 
years  ago,  some  white  men  of  the  South  paid  Mr.  Fisher's  expenses  to 
Washington  that  he  might  work  in  the  Congressional  Library  on  the  "In- 
dustrial Aptitude  and  Efficiency  of  the  Leading  Nationalities  of  the  World." 
Mr.  Fisher  is  as  successful  as  a  teacher  and  orator  as  he  has  been  as  an 
essayist,  and  the  people  of  Arkansas  of  all  colors  are  proud  of  him  and 
suspicious  of  any  attentions  shown  him  outside  of  the  state  lest  he  may  be 
called   to  a  more  prominent   and  more  lucrative  place. 

The  names  mentioned  above  form  only  a  part  of  the  attractions  ci  the 
program.  In  addition  to  Drs.  Wise  and  Fleischer,  Rabbi  Heller  of  New 
OrleanS;  and  Dr.  Schulman  of  New  York,  have  been  invited  to  represent 
the  Jewish  fraternity.  Many  other  eminent  men  and  women,  lay  and  clerical, 
are  at  the  service  of  the  committee. 


200 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

{From  the  Boston  Transcript) 

It  has  remained  for  Chicago  first  to  do  fitting,  even  if  somewhat  tardy, 
honor  to  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  birth,  and  the  semi-centennial 
anniversary  of  the  death,  of  one  w^hom  Boston  long  proudly  claimed  as  its 
own,  albeit  he  was  known  by  the  orthodox  Christians  of  his  day  as  the  great 
"Boston  heretic" — Theodore  Parker.  Irrespective  of  sectarian  lines  and  the- 
ological differences,  more  than  one  hundred  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the 
Western  metropolis  have  united  in  a  committee  of  invitation  and  hospitality 
to  co-operate  with  the  officers  of  the  Free  Religious  Association,  the  Con- 
gress of  Religion  and  the  Federation  of  Religious  Liberals,  in  a  suitable 
celebration  of  the  birth  and  death  of  one  whom  their  circular  declares  to  be 
"now,  by  common  consent  acknowledged  to  be  one  of  the  great  American 
preachers  of  religion,  who  has  over-reached  all  ecclesiastical  bounds,  and  has 
become  one  of  America's  greatest  citizens."  Delegate  representatives  from 
any  church,  school  or  college  organization,  or  civic,  literary  or  other  clubs, 
are  invited  to  take  part,  and  a  splendid  list  of  speakers  has  already  been 
secured  for  the  central  program,  which  is  arranged  for  November  15,  16 
and  17.  Among  these  appear  such  familiar  Boston  names  as  Rev.  Charles 
W.  VVendte,  Edwin  D.  Mead,  Rev.  Charles  F.  Dole  and  Rabbi  Charles 
Fleischer;  besides  those  of  even  still  wider  note,  like  Dr.  Emil  G.  Hirsch 
and  Miss  Jane  Addams.  A  large  number  of  extracts  from  letters  of  clergy- 
men of  various  denominations,  as  well  as  from  university  men,  professional 
men,  and  lay  men  and  women,  show  with  what  enthusiasm  the  proposed 
celebration  has  been  received,  not  only  by  leading  clerics  of  the  Unitarian 
Church,  with  which  this  famous  Boston  prophet  of  everything  large  and 
catholic  and  beautiful  in  life  was  allied,  but  by  the  earnest  Christian  of  ether 
denominations,  the  heterodox,  the  Jew,  the  scholar  and  the  man  of  business. 


{From  the  Reform  Advocate  of  Chicago,  October  20,  1910) 

What  our  country  owes  to  this  preacher  is  worth  while  recounting,  even 
though  they  be  few  today  who,  acquainted  with  the  story  of  its  progress 
in  the  things  of  the  mind  and  the  spirit,  do  not  know  that  among  the  build- 
ers of  our  nation's  temple  of  true  freedom  he  had  few  peers  and  no  superiors. 
Not  that  ours  is  his  theology  or  even  his  philosophy.  Yet,  if  we  have  pro- 
gressed beyond  the  outlook  that  he  had  reached  before  others  of  his  day, 
to  him  we  are  indebted  for  our  advance  higher  up  the  slope.  We  rejoice  to 
learn  that  among  the  men  who  have  promised  their  aid  and  interest  and  will 
help  make  the  Theodore  Parker  anniversary  occasions  memorable  in  them- 
selves and  profitable  for  the  spiritual  life  of  this  community,  they  are  not 
absent  who  have  been  among  the  leaders  of  our  Jewish  congregations  and 
movements.  They  belong  among  the  sponsors  of  this  gathering  of  the  grate- 
ful successors  of  the  great  Boston  preacher.  In  him  came  to  speech  the 
voice  that  had  leaped  into  fire  on  the  lips  of  ancient  prophet.  His  was  the 
lot  of  the  man  of  suffering  despised  of  men.  A  cryer  in  the  desert  he,  yet 
after  his  translation  his  was  still  the  undying  appeal  that  at  last  made  the 
wilderness  ])lossom.  Indeed  the  American  synagogue  would  be  disloyal  to 
the  best  it  calls  its  own  were  it  disinclined  to  honor  Theodore  Parker  among 
the  great  that  shine  on  with  the  splendor  of  the  sunflooded  firmament.  We 
of  the  liberal  interpretation  of  Israel's  patrimony  have  long  looked  up 
to  him  as  one  having  place  and  name  in  our  sanctuary. 


{Unity,  Oct.  20,  1910) 

During  the  life  time  of  Theodore  Parker  he  was  the  great  "Boston 
heretic,"  dreaded  and  avoided  by  his  own  colleagues  of  the  Unitarian  faith, 
those  who  boasted  of  their  liberal  traditions.  To  the  intelligent  reading 
world,  he  was,  during  the  last  years  of  his  life  time,  the  great  "Boston 


PRESS  NOTICES  201 


preacher,"  talking  to  immense  audiences  in  the  great  Music  Hall,  speaking 
to  those  who  were  even  then  conspicuous  makers  of  history,  such  as  Samuel 
G.  Howe  and  his  gifted  wife;  John  A.  Andrew,  soon  to  be  the  great  war  gov- 
ernor of  Massachusets;  Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  who  was  to  lead  a 
colored  regiment  in  the  battle  for  liberty,  and  many  others. 

But  the  Unitarians  have  long  since  recovered  from  their  fright,  and 
now  the  noble  centenary  edition  of  his  words  in  fourteen  splendid  volumes 
Dears  the  imprint  of  the  American  Unitarian  Association,  and  the  invitation 
herein  published  discloses  the  fact  that  the  great  preacher  has  been  lost  in 
the  great  citizen.  He  has  become  one  of  the  nation  makers.  He  now 
enlists  the  love  and  enthusiasm  of  the  friends  of  liberty  and  progress,  of 
students  of  the  humanities  and  of  national  patriots  everywhere. 

At  least  four  great  clerics  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  have 
over-reached  all  ecclesiastical  boundaries.  William  Ellery  Channing,  Theo- 
dore Parker,  Horace  Bushnell  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher  have  long  since 
ceased  to  be  the  representatives  of  sect  or  to  be  the  special  pride  of  any  de- 
nomination ;  they  belong  to  the  nation.  Perhaps  there  are  other  names 
that  ought  to  be  mentioned  in  this  connection,  but  these  at  least  have  been 
elected  by  a  consensus  of  the  competent. 

It  is  fitting  then  that  Chicago,  the  youngest  of  the  great  cities  of  Amer- 
ica, should  strive  to  acknowledge  the  fact  that  in  Theodore  Parker  we  have 
a  national  asset.  The  invitation  signatures  and  the  extracts  from  the  letters 
will  speak  for  themselves.  In  this  list  the  distinction  between  orthodox  and 
heterodox,  between  Christian  and  Jew,  between  the  scholar  and  the  man  of 
business,  falls  away.  The  indications  are  that  the  realization  will  not  dis- 
appoint the  prophecy.  We  believe  that  the  people  of  Chicago,  through  its 
churches,  clubs,  schools,  colleges  and  newspapers,  will  endorse  the  hearty 
invitation  of  this  noble  list  of  men  and  women,  who  represent  the  higher 
life  of  Chicago,  who  believe  that  Chicago  has  interests  other  than  material 
and  appreciations  other  than  of  things  tangible. 

Unity  hastens  to  add  its  invitation  and  confidently  solicits  the  co-opera- 
tion of  all  its  readers.  East,  West,  North  and  South.  The  program  will 
represent  national  leaders,  and  we  believe  the  listeners  and  readers  vrill  be 
equally   representative. 

{Unity,  November  17,  1910) 

Unity  goes  to  press  while  the  Parker  meetings  are  in  progress.  We 
will  not  attempt  to  report  progress  in  this  week's  issue,  but  content  our- 
selves by  assuring  our  readers  that  the  interest  is  genuine  and  widespread. 

In  a  score  or  more  pulpits  in  Chicago  last  Sunday,  Parker  tributes  were 
spoken,  and,  what  is  better,  Parker  spirit  was  emulated.  From  Columbus, 
Ohio,  to  Galveston,  Texas,  comes  assurance  that  the  Chicago  invitation  is 
accepted  and  the  Chicago  initiative  imitated. 

Not  all  our  readers  have  access  to  the  Chicago  papers,  and  those  who 
do  are  not  in  the  habit  of  expecting  much  space  or  attention  to  be  given 
to  such  discussions  as  are  inspired  by  the  Theodore  Parker  memorials,  par- 
ticularly in  the  wake  of  so  exciting  an  election,  and  we  assume  that  our 
constituents  will  be  interested  in  knowing  how  the  occasion  is  reflected  in 
the  columns  of  the  local  press. 


{From  the  Reform  Advocate) 

The  places  selected  for  the  various  meetings  for  the  Parker  anniversary 
are  suggestive  of  the  wider  sympathies  which  derive  their  deeper  consecra- 
tion from  the  labors  of  the  chosen  few  destined  to  immortality  even  on  earth. 
And  one  of  the  easily  numbered  stars  the  light  of  which  continues  shining 
after  the  hour  of  their  setting,  was  the  luminary  that  rose  above  our  horizon 
one  hundred  years  ago. 

However,  the  appeal  of  this  and  similar  celebrations  is  not  exclusively 


202 THEODORE    PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

of  the  man  and  his  life.  The  hour  which  recalls  both  the  incarnation  and 
the  ascension  of  so  rare  a  genius  is  an  invitation  to  the  living  to  measure 
how  far  they  have  progressed  beyond  the  point  up  the  slope  reached  by  the 
pioneer  climber.  Parker  led  the  advance  in  religion,  in  patriotism,  and  along 
many  other  lines.     Hovr  and  where  do  we  stand  today? 

That  for  such  theological  opinions  as  Parker  expressed,  the  Unitarian 
fellowship  did  excommunicate  him  is  almost  incomprehensible  in  the  light 
of  our  own  thinking.  Unitarians  today  allow  such  views  to  pass  without 
as  much  as  a  syllable  of  dissent.  Other  more  orthodox  communities  have 
grown  familiar  with  and  tolerant  of  liberal  constructions  of  Biblical  state- 
ments, the  results  of  the  higher  criticism  and  other  opinions,  fifty  years  ago 
denounced  as  impious  deviltry.  In  the  domain  of  religion  his  successors 
have  outdistanced  him.  The  heresy  of  yesterday  is  honored  as  the  ortho- 
doxy of  today.  Other  problems  confront  the  progressive  religionist  today. 
To  the  solution  of  these,  Parker's  writings  contribute  but  little  help.  But 
his  example  does  al)  the  more.  His  courage  to  stand  alone  when  truth  as 
he  saw  it  summoned  him  to  the  lonely  place  of  the  "watcher  for  the  morn- 
ing" may  well  inspire  those  that  have  to  do  similar  service.  Into  solitude 
fidelity  1o  truth  often  sends  her  chosen  ministers.  But  its  stony  paths  were 
trodden  by  the  greatest.  Communion  with  them  is  compensation  greater 
than  what  the  crown  of  popular  approval  may  ransom.  The  "imitation"  of 
the  lonely  prophets  of  yesterday  is  an  earnest  of  victory  which  will  requite 
the   later  heralds'  steadfastness. 

For  this  reason  the  rehearsing  of  the  trials  more  than  the  triumphs  of 
the  men  of  Parker's  stature,  opens  sources  of  power  for  the  sustenance  of 
their  successors  of  lesser  growth.  The  great  of  yesterday  point  out  new 
heights  as  yet  not  scaled.  But  their  example  lends  to  weaker  souls  confi- 
dence in  the  ultimate  conquest  of  the  peaks. 


{From  the  Chicago  Record-Herald) 

The  memory  of  Theodore  Parker  was  honored  yesterday  in  Chicago 
in  many  churches  and  at  public  gatherings.  The  name  of  the  great  Boston 
humanitarian  was  lauded  from  the  pulpit  by  Chicago  pastors  and  by  clergy- 
men from  other  cities  who  were  visitors  to  the  city. 

The  program  marked  the  opening  of  a  week  of  celebration  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  centennial  of  the  birth  of  the  great  Unitarian  and  the  semi- 
centennial of  his  death.  Anniversary  services  were  held  in  the  morning 
and  afternoon,  and  last  night  as  many  persons  as  could  find  seats  in  Or- 
chestra Hall  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Sunday  Evening  Club,  where  the 
memory  of  "the  man  who  stood  for  his  own  convictions"  was  honored  in 
song  and  speech. 

"Parker's  Message  to  Manhood"  was  the  subject  on  which  Rev.  Charles 
F.  Carter,  of  the  Park  Congregational  Church,  Hartford,  Conn.,  addressed 
the  gathering. 

"I  rejoice  to  oay  tribute  to  the  spirit  of  a  great  and  noble  minded  man, 
who  dared  give  himself  to  the  truth  he  saw  in  order  that  he  might  liberate 
fellow  men,"  Rev.  Mr.  Carter  said.  "The  time  is  coming  when  we  all  shall 
see  religious  truth  in  a  way  so  broad  and  comprehensive  that  it  will  make 
the  vision  so  pure  that  we  may  see,  and  leave  out  of  our  lives  the  errors 
that  were  on  both  sides  of  that  great  controversy  waged  by  Theodore  Parker 
and  clergymen  of  his  time. 

"The  worthiest  tribute  that  we  can  pay  to  any  man  is  not  to  talk  about 
him,  but  to  perpetuate  his  convictions  in  our  own  lives.  Theodore  Parker 
had  much  to  do  in  the  way  of  a  theological  battering  ram.  It  is  true  he  did 
a  vast  amount  of  destructive  work,  but  beneath  it  all  was  a  positive  force 
and  a  constructive  method.  His  was  not  a  speculative  knowledge.  He  was 
always  dealing  with  thought,  not  for  his  own  sake,  but  for  life's  sake. 

"The  idea  was  comparatively  new  that  there  should  be  a  man  who  could 
say  with  positive  conviction  and  downrightedness  of  vision,  'I  am  very  sure 


PRESS  NOTICES  203 


of  God,  as  sure  of  his  existence  as  I  am  of  my  own.'  Theodore  Parker 
believed  that  in  the  ideal  that  comes  from  God  man's  distinctive  mark  is  dis- 
closed. It  was  his  theory  that  unless  a  man  comes  to  himself  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  lives  a  life  of  justice  and  truth  he  is  not  worthy  of  the 
name. 

"The  religions  faculty  is  rudimentary  in  man  and  has  to  be  developed. 
It  lies  with  us  to  see  that  this  germ  of  potency  and  higher  life  be  kept 
working.  The  life  that  is  not  religious,  Theodore  Parker  would  say,  is  not 
yet  formed,  and  one  that  is  developed  in  the  other  direction  is  deformed. 

"That  great  prophet  of  the  soul  calls  us  by  his  message  to  a  loyalty  to 
God  and  a  loyalty  to  one  another,  brothers  all.  He  stood  against  what  he 
deemed  oppression,  stood  for  the  opportunity  of  the  spirit  of  man  to  come 
to  its  own  unhampered.  He  stood  his  ground,  fought  a  good  fight  and  trans- 
mitted to  us  an  abiding  faith." 

Preceding  Dr.  Carter,  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Theodore  Parker  anniversaries,  extended  "Chicago's  Trib- 
ute to  Theodore  Parker." 

"It  is  the  living  Theodore  Parker  that  Chicago  welcomes,  to  whom  Chi- 
cago pays  tribute  this  week,"  he  said.  "We  celebrate  the  memory  of  the  liv- 
mg  Theodore  Parker." 

The  song  written  by  Parker  in  1846,  beginning  "O  Thou  Great  Friend 
to  All  the  Sons  of  Men,"  was  read  by  Robert  A.  Woods  of  the  Boston  South 
End  Settlement  and  then  sung  by  the  Sunday  Evening  chorus  and  audience. 

Theodore  Parker's  liberal  theology  was  taken  as  a  subject  by  Dr.  Frank 
W.  Gunsaulus  in  his  sermon  at  the  Auditorium  Theater  in  the  morning.  In 
reconciling  the  statement  of  Parker  that  "every  fall  is  a  fall  upward"  with 
his  anti-slavery  pronouncements,  Dr.  Gunsaulus  expounded  the  story  of  the 
prodigal  son. 

"Literally  and  standing  alone,  it  is  not  true  that  'every  fall  is  a  fall  up- 
ward,'" Dr.  Gunsaulus  said.  "But  it  can  be  accepted  when  it  is  interpreted 
by  the  light  of  that  other  famous  utterance  of  Parker :  'The  greatest  test 
of  Americanism  is  not  the  ability  to  say,  "I  am  as  good  as  you  are,"  but 
the  ability  to  say,  "'Yon  are  as  good  as  I  am." ' 

"The  coming  of  Theodore  Parker  into  the  old  theology  and  into  the 
theology  of  tomorrow  will  give  new  life  and  vitality  to  man's  understanding 
of  the  divine  pronouncement  that  man  is  the  child  of  God.  It  will  give  us 
new  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  the  prodigal  son  never  lost  his  sonship. 
It  was  the  prodigal  son's  hunger  that  formed  the  basis  of  his  new  faith. 

"One  hundred  years  of  liberal  theology  has  brought  one  fatal  weakness. 
We  no  longer  understand  that  sin  and  the  curse  that  follows  cannot  be 
wiped  out  by  mere  reminiscences  of  the  good  of  other  days.  The  theology 
of  hyperorthodoxy  never  dreamed  that  the  real  title  to  sonship  lies  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  brotherhood  to  the  lowliest,  the  most  despised  and  the  most 
debauched." 

Dr.  Gunsaulus  spoke  of  the  estimate  of  the  Boston  Unitarian  expressed 
by  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  Wendell  Phillips,  contemporaries  of  Parker. 
He  pointed  out  that,  of  Parker,  Emerson  said :  "It  is  plain  to  me  that  he 
has  achieved  a  historic  immortality  here.  His  commanding  merit  as  a 
reformer  was  this,  that  he  insisted  beyond  all  men  in  pulpits — I  cannot  think 
of  one  rival — that  the  essence  of  Christianity  is  its  practical  morals." 

From  Wendell  Phillips'  tribute  to  Parker,  Dr.  Gunsaulus  quoted :  "There 
are  men  whom  we  measure  by  their  times,  content  and  expecting  to  find  them 
subdued  to  what  they  work  in.  They  are  chameleons  of  circumstances. 
There  are  others  who  serve  as  guide  posts  and  landmarks ;  we  measure  their 
times  by  them.     Such  was  Theodore  Parker." 

Edwin  D.  Mead  of  Boston  spoke  on  "The  Influence  of  Theodore 
Parker"  at  the  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre- 

"Parker  believed  in  freedom  in  religion  as  in  science,"  he  said.  "He 
cared  little  about  past  devils,  but  much  about  future  ones.  Religion  with 
him  was  for  use." 


204 THEODORE   PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

In  his  sermon  in  the  morning  at  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  Rev.  A. 
Eugene  Bartlett  said :  "When  Theodore  Parker  preached  in  the  old  Melodeon 
in  Boston  many  ostracized  him  because  he  believed  that  a  man  could  be  a 
Christian  and  yet  disbelieve  in  the  miracles.  His  broad,  liberal  view  of 
Christianity  is  making  its  way  into  all  churches.  He  was  a  prophet  who 
saw  the  coming  abolition  of  war  and  the  incoming  of  peace.  ?Ie  struck  the 
note  of  reality  in  religion,  a  note  that  still  needs  to  be  sounded.  His  idea 
of  the  Bible  is  that  of  the  modern  scholarship  of  all  churches." 

Rev.  R.  A.  White  spoke  on  Parker's  theological  and  sociological  reforms 
in  his  morning  sermon  at  the  People's  Liberal  Church. 

At  noon  today  the  Outlook  Club  will  celebrate  the  Parker  anniversary 
at  the  University  Club.     Professor  Maitra  and  others  will  speak. 


{From  the  Chicago  Tribune) 

Distinctions  between  orthodox  and  heterodox,  between  Jew  and  Gentile, 
between  the  scholar  and  the  man  of  business,  fell  away  yesterday  in  the 
praise  of  Theodore  Parker,  known  during  his  lifetime  as  the  "Boston 
heretic,"  but  now  recognized  as  "one  of  the  few  great  clerics  in  the  history 
of  the  United  States  who  overreached  all  ecclesiastical  boundaries." 

In  commemoration  of  the  centennial  of  his  birth  and  the  semi-centennial 
of  his  death,  his  work  was  the  text  of  addresses  in  a  dozen  churches  on  the 
opening  day  of  the  week's  celebration  under  the  auspices  of  the  Free  Religious 
Association,  the  Congress  of  Religion,  and  the  National  Federation  of 
Religious  Liberals,  held  in  Chicago  upon  the  invitation  of  a  committee  of 
one  hundred  citizens. 

An  identical  thought — that  all  the  gatherings  were  greeting  "a  living 
Parker" — marked  all  the  addresses.  It  was  a  thought  taken  from  his  last 
pastoral  letter. 

"There  are  two  Theodore  Parkers,"  he  wrote  as  he  lay  dying  in  Italy. 
"One  is  dying  here  in  Florence.  The  other  I  have  planted  in  America.  He 
will  live  on  there  and  finish  my  work." 

In  the  largest  meeting  of  the  day,  that  at  the  Sunday  Evening  Club  in 
Orchestra  Hall,  this  keynote  was  sounded  by  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones,  and  it 
was  carried  along  by  the  Rev.  Charles  F.  Carter  of  the  Park  Street  Congre- 
gational Church  of  Hartford,  Conn. 

"I  believe,  hope  and  pray,"  said  Dr.  Carter,  "that  the  time  is  coming  when 
all  of  us  will  see  religious  truth  in  a  broad,  comprehensive  way  that  will 
embrace  both  sides  of  that  unfortunate  controversy  involving  the  faith  with 
which  he  identified  himself  and  that  other  which  I  represent.  I  believe  we  are 
coming  into  possession  of  theological  thought  that  is  comprehensive,  and 
because  he  had  that  vision  I  rejoice  to  pay  tribute  to  him. 

"Theodore  Parker  did  a  vast  amount  of  destructive  work,  but  now, 
looking  back  in  the  perspective,  we  can  see  in  it  all  a  constructive  motive." 


{From  the  Sunday  Issue  of  the  Chicago  Record-Herald) 

Theodore  Parker  said  of  himself  that  he  was  meant  for  a  philosopher 
and  that  the  times  called   for  a  stump  orator. 

The  many  men  of  many  minds  who  meet  here  to  honor  his  memory  will 
discuss  every  known  phase  of  his  life,  character  and  work.  They  will  show 
that  Parker,  the  "Boston  heretic,"  anticipated  much  of  the  religious  opinion 
and  criticism  of  the  present  time;  that  Parker,  the  political  reformer,  was  one 
of  the  really  influential  factors  in  the  anti-slavery  movement  of  his  own 
time.  They  will  speak  with  the  authority  of  special  students  and  will  have 
much  that  is  interesting  and  instructive  to  say.  As  the  Boston  Transcrip. 
has  declared,  it  remained  for  Chicago  first  to  do  fitting  honor  to  the  cen- 
tennial  anniversary  of    Parker's   birth,   and    we   have   no  doubt   that   those 


PRESS  NOTICES  205 


who  have  the  celebration  in  charge  will  make  its  full  significance  felt  within 
the  city  and  beyond  its  limits. 

From  the  thought  of  their  comprehensive  addresses  we  turn  to  a  few 
notes  that  are  connected  with  the  subject,  and  the  first  word  we  see  is 
"revival."  In  the  year  1858  there  was  tremendous  excitement  over  religious 
revivals  in  the  country,  and  this  vrill  remind  the  reader,  if  a  reminder  is 
needed,  that  there  is  now  great  excitement  over  a  religious  revival  in 
Chicago.  A  thorough  comparison  of  the  two  phenomena  is  impossible  with 
the  material  at  hand,  but  it  is  clear  that  if  in  the  fifty  odd  years  that  have 
elapsed  since  1858  Parker's  ideas  have  had  their  influence  upon  religious 
teachers,  doctrines  and  appeals  that  failed  to  arouse  Parker's  sympathy  are 
still  with  us.  Perhaps — and  we  say  this  cautiously,  for  it  is  by  no  means  cer- 
tain that  there  is  any  new  thing  under  the  sun — perhaps  there  is  more  of 
toleration  on  both  sides  than  there  used  to  be.  At  any  rate,  it  does  give  one 
a  jar  to  read  that  one  of  the  old  revivalists  said  of  Parker  that  "Hell  never 
vomited  forth  a  more  wicked  and  blasphemous  monster,"  and  that  another 
advised  putting  a  hook  in  his  jaws.  This  may  surely  be  called  uncompro- 
mising, and  it  suggests  anything  but  a  conciliatory  attitude  on  Parker's  part. 
It  would  be  exceedingly  interesting  to  know  just  how  much  progress  the 
spirit  of  co-operation  has  made. 

In  politics  Parker  himself  used  very  strong  language.  He  roasted 
Webster  after  the  seventh  of  March  speech  and  persisted  in  his  criticisms 
after  that  statesman's  death.  Rhodes  says  that  "the  preacher  appeared  to 
want  the  good  which  Webster  did  interred  with  his  bones  and  the  evil  to 
live  after  him."  The  historian  adds  that  in  this  case  Parker  crystallized 
gossip  into  serious  utterance,  that  "he  who  felt  competent  to  separate  the 
fable  from  the  truth  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  showed  great  credulity 
in  estimating  the  history  of  his  own  day." 

But  in  the  anti-slavery  crusade  Parker  was  a  zealot  who  shared  with 
Phillips  the  labors  of  the  stump.  If,  as  Emerson  said,  he  was  a  man  of 
study  fit  for  a  man  of  the  world,  he  had  here  the  enthusiasm  of  the  man  pos- 
sessed, the  man  with  a  mission.  The  language  of  statesmen  more  radical 
than  Webster  was  too  tame  for  him. 

He  was  the  guardian  of  the  fugitive  slave,  an  operator  of  the  under- 
ground railroad,  an  agitator  in  a  cause  whose  triumph  was  a  triumph  for 
right  and  a  triumph  for  the  whole  country.  As  we  review  now  the  times 
in  which  he  lived  we  feel  both  that  the  force  and  devotion  he  showed  were 
necessary,  and  that  we  owe  him  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  his  unceasing  efforts 
in  behalf  of  the  liberty  that  meant  union,  for  a  splendid  inheritance  that  has 
given  us  a  comparatively  smooth  road  to  travel. 

The  same  editorial  prefaces  its  Sunday  announcements  of  the  Parker 
meetings  as  follows : 

Nearly  all  the  churches  of  Chicago  will  unite  today  in  celebrating  the 
centennial  of  the  birth  and  the  semi-centennial  of  the  death  of  Theodore 
Parker,    the    great    religious   reformer. 

Dr.  Parker  was  a  Unitarian  and  early  in  his  pastoral  career  incurred  the 
hostility  of  theological  contemporaries  by  his  outspoken  denial  of  the  special 
authority  of  the  Bible,  of  the  supernatural  origin  of  Christianity  and  of  the 
divine  mission  of  Christ.  He  was  popular  in  his  own  circle,  not  so  much 
because  of  his  eloquence  as  because  of  his  knowledge.  During  the  period 
immediately  preceding  the  Civil  war  he  was  one  of  the  great  leaders  in 
the  anti-slavery  movement  and  it  is  said  of  him  that  not  even  Garrison  or 
Phillips  did  more  to  awaken  the  conscience  of  the  North. 

Special  services  will  be  held  in  his  memory  throughout  this  week  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Congress  of  Religion,  the  Free  Religious  Association  and 
the  National  Federation  of  Religious  Liberals. 

Rev.  Charles  W.  Wendte,  who  will  preside  and  speak  at  St.  Paul's 
Universalist  Church  Wednesday  evening,  was  a  member  of  Theodore  Parker's 
Sunday  school  as  a  child.  Rev.  Charles  Francis  Carter  of  Hartford,  Conn., 
who  was  the  late  Horace  Bushnell's  successor  as  pastor  of  the  historic  Park 


206 THEODORE   PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

Street  Congregational  Church,  and  also  was  for  many  years  in  charge  of  a 
church  at  Lexington,  Mass.,  Theodore  Parker's  birthplace,  will  be  the  princ- 
ipal speaker  at  the  Orchestra  Hall  meeting  of  the  Sunday  Evening  Club, 
Sunday  evening.  Others  expected  to  participate  are  Charles  Fleischer,  rabbi 
of  one  of  the  largest  Jewish  congregations  in  Boston,  and  long  identified 
with  the  civic  and  humanitarian  life  of  the  eastern  city;  Isaac  W.  Fisher, 
president  of  the  Arkansas  Branch  Normal  College  for  Colored  People  and  a 
graduate  of  the  Tuskegee  Institute;  Edwin  D.  Mead  of  Boston,  secretary  of 
the  American  School  of  Peace  and  promoter  of  the  "Old  South"  work  in 
Boston,  and  Rev.  Joseph  Newton,  pastor  of  the  Liberal  Church  of  Cedar 
Rapids,  low-a,  biographer  of  David  Swing  and  the  author  of  "Lincoln  and 
Herndon." 

Theodore  Parker  was  declared  in  a  sermon  by  Rabbi  Tobias  Schanfarber 
at  K.  A.  M.  Temple  Sunday  to  have  been  a  religious  prophet. 

"It  might  seem  strange,"  he  said,  "that  from  a  Jewish  pulpit  should  be 
spoken  the  first  word  on  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Theodore  Parker, 
but  this  man  did  not  belong  to  any  particular  creed.  He  was  a  broad 
humanitarian  and  held  a  liberal  conception  of  religion  and  our  church  be- 
longs to  all  religions.  Yet  with  all  his  liberality  of  thought  he  did  not  have 
a  correct  conception  of  Judaism.  We  can  forgive  him  upon  the  plea  that 
he  was  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  development  of  Judaism  and 
give  him  a  place  among  the  great  religious  prophets  of  humanity." 


{From  the  Chicago  Evening  Post) 

It  is  always  interesting  to  see  a  noncontroversial  age,  like  ours,  at- 
tempt to  appraise  and  appreciate  a  controversial  age  like  that  of  Theodore 
Parker.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  such  an  attempt  just  now  in  the  current 
celebration  of  the  centenary  of  the  birth  and  the  semi-centenary  of  the 
death  of  the  "great  Boston  heretic,"  and  the  tone  of  the  week  has  a  peculiar 
interest.  It  is  suggestive,  for  example,  to  note  how  many  "up-to-date" 
clergymen  who  have  always  felicitated  their  audiences  upon  the  fact  that  the 
"intolerance"  and  "bigotry"  of  an  earlier  period  have  passed  away,  might 
have  been  caught  yesterday  in  a  sentimental  regret  for  the  obvious  dis- 
appearance of  that  absorbing  interest  in  theological  questions  which  drove 
the  New  England  of  Parker's  day.  John  Morley  said  once  that  ours  was 
an  age  of  "loud  disputes  and  weak  convictions,"  but  most  of  us  perceive  that 
it  is  not  even  a  time  of  "loud  disputes,"  at  least  on  the  questions  which 
stimulated  our  fathers  to  such  excitement.  A  good  many  liberal  churchmen 
perceived  this  yesterday  and  seem  to  have  felt  a  fresh  sense  of  loss  as  they 
reviewed  the  story  of  Theodore  Parker's  life. 

We  would  not  attempt,  within  the  limits  of  daily  journalism,  to  appraise 
Theodore  Parker's  work.  His  admirers  and  his  critics  are  taking  a  week  to 
the  task  and  are,  doubtless,  still  leaving  many  things  unsaid.  But  we  are, 
frankly,  interested  in  the  reaction  which  this  celebration  may  have  upon 
its  participants  in  all  the  liberal  denominations.  What  can  they  get  from 
him?  It  is  not  so  much  that  Theodore  Parker's  spirit  is  out  of  date  as  it  is 
that  the  environment  has  changed.  What  can  earnest  inen  do  with  a  genera- 
tion which  politely  suppresses  its  views  and  counts  it  the  part  of  virtue  and 
solid  wisdom  to  carry  as  little  baggage  as  may  be? 

Needless  to  say,  no  one  can  light  the  fires  which  blazed  so  fiercely  in 
the  '40s  and  '50s.  But  it  is  possible  to  find  in  the  calmer  passages  of  The- 
odore Parker's  pages  many  a  modern  paragraph,  many  a  forecast  of  a  better 
society.    Perhaps  at  the  end  of  the  week  this  is  what  we  shall  have. 


PRESS  NOTICES  207 


{From  the  Chicago  Daily  News,  Nov.  2,  1910) 

Clergyman  and  layman,  Jew  and  gentile,  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
will  unite  for  one  week,  from  November  13  to  November  20,  in  a  celebra- 
tion in  Chicago  of  the  centennial  of  Theodore  Parker,  the  Boston  divine 
and  author,  called  one  of  the  greatest  preachers  this  country  has  ever  pro- 
duced. Chicago  is  to  house  notable  men  of  every  shade  of  belief  and  field 
of  activity  during  the  public  commemoration  of  Parker's  life  and  his  deeds. 

The  celebration  is  to  mark  not  only  the  centennial  of  the  birth  but  the 
semi-centennial  of  the  death  as  well  of  the  famous  pulpit  orator.  It  is  to  be 
undertaken  by  the  Free  Religious  Association  of  Boston,  the  Congress  of 
Religion  of  Chicago  and  the  Federation  of  Religious  Liberals  of  Philadelphia, 
but  working  with  these  organizations,  and  giving  to  the  project  its  flavor 
of  the  nonsectarian,  are  more  than  150  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Chicago, 
comprising  university  educators,  business  men,  clergymen,  lawyers,  doctors, 
editors — men  of  prominence  in  every  walk  of  life,  pledged  to  aid  in  the 
celebration. 


{From  the  Chicago  Inter  Ocean,  Oct.  13,  1910) 

The  centennial  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Theodore  Parker,  humani- 
tarian, philosopher  and  statesman,  will  be  celebrated  in  Chicago  with  memo- 
rial services  which  will  begin  today  in  the  Auditorium,  where  Dr.  Frank  VV- 
Gunsaulus  will  deliver  a  tribute  to  the  great  American.  Services  also  will 
be  held  in  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  Warren  avenue  and  Robey  street, 
at  11  o'clock,  where  the  Rev.  A.  Eugene  Bartlett  will  speak. 

Other  services  will  be  held  at  the  same  hour  in  the  Isaiah  Temple, 
Forty-fifth  street  and  Vincennes  avenue,  at  which  Rabbi  Stolz  will  speak. 
Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones  will  deliver  an  address  on  Parker  at  Lincoln  Centre, 
Oakland  boulevard  and  Langley  avenue,  at  11  o'clock,  and  at  Unity  Church, 
Hinsdale. 

People's  Liberal  Church,  Stewart  avenue  and  West  Sixty-fifth  street, 
will  also  observe  the  memory  of  Parker  in  the  forenoon,  and  in  the  after- 
noon at  4:30  o'clock  Rabbi  Charles  Fleischer  of  Boston  will  speak  on  Parker. 
Other  addresses  will  be  delivered  in  commemoration  of  Parker's  birth  during 
the  week.  It  is  just  fifty  years  since  the  death  of  Parker,  so  that  the  an- 
niversary this  week  will  be  of  double  nature,  commemorating  the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  his  birth  and  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  death. 


{From  the  Chicago  Tribune,  Oct.  21,  1910) 

"Theodore  Parker  Anniversaries"  is  the  title  given  by  ofificial  announce- 
ment to  an  entire  week  of  honors  in  memory  of  that  distinguished  scholar 
of  other  days.  From  November  13  to  20  there  will  be  gathered  in  Chicago 
a  remarkable  conclave  of  prominent  men  who,  discarding  sectarian  and 
theological  differences,  will  aid  a  national  celebration  of  the  centennial  of 
the  birth  and  the  semi-centennial  of  the  death  of  the  famous  New  Englander. 


{From  the  Chicago  Daily  News,  Oct.  31,  1910) 

Representative  speakers  from  the  United  States,  Europe  and  India  were 
assigned  to  the  various  meetings  of  the  approaching  "Theodore  Parker" 
celebration  today  at  a  luncheon  given  by  Charles  L.  Hutchinson  in  the 
directors'  room  of  the  Corn  Exchange  National  Bank.  Mr.  Hutchinson  is 
chairman  of  the  advisory  committee  appointed  to  represent  the  100  signers 
of  the  call  for  the  celebration,  which  will  be  held  in  Chicago  during  the 
week  beginning  November  13. 


208 THEODORE   PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 

{From  the  Chicago  Evening  Post,  Nov.  11,  1910) 

Great  changes  have  come  in  the  thinking  of  reHgious  men  and  women, 
and  still  greater  changes  in  the  ethical  issues  and  sociological  interests  of  the 
world,  on  lines  indicated  by  the  fundamental  contentions  of  Theodore 
Parker.  He  prepared  the  way  for  suljsequent  advancements,  greater  and 
in  many  ways  different  frotii  his  highest  hopes  in  the  fields  of  temperance, 
education,  the  rights  of  the  negro,  the  cause  of  the  laborer,  the  advancement 
of  women,  the  abolition  of  war.  the  proper  use  of  wealth  and  the  sympathies 
of  religion.     In  all  these  directions  he  was  a  pioneer. 


(From  the  Chicago  Examiner,  Nov.  18,  1910) 

The  close  of  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  birth  of  Theodore  Parker 
was  celebrated  last  nighl  by  a  banquet  held  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel.  Seated 
at  the  speakers'  table,  next  to  Miss  Jane  Addams  and  the  toastmaster.  Pro- 
fessor George  E.  Vincent,  was  Isaac  W.  Fisher,  a  pure-blood  negro.  Pro- 
fessor Fisher  is  president  of  the  Arkansas  branch  of  the  Normal  College  for 
Colored  People,  and  is  a  graduate  of  Tuskegee  Institute.  More  than  300 
people   were  present. 


(From  the  Chicago  Tribune,  Nov.  18,  1910) 

All  post-prandial  records  were  broken  at  the  Theodore  Parker  memorial 
anniversary  banquet  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel  last  night.  Ten  addresses 
within  the  space  of  fifty  minutes  was  the  record,  the  discourses  dealing  with 
various  phases  of  the  life  and  preachings  of  the  noted  preacher  and  reformer. 
The  banquet  marked  the  close  of  Chicago's  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Parker 
and  the  week's  series  of  meetings  held  in  all  sections  of  the  city. 


{From  the  Chicago  Record-Herald,  Nov.  18,  1910) 

The  unorthodoxy  in  politics  and  religion  of  Theodore  Parker  during  a 
period  of  especial  orthodoxy  was  the  keynote  of  addresses  made  last  night 
at  a  "popular  banquet"  held  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel  as  the  principal  feature 
of  Chicago's  series  of  tributes  to  the  great  Boston  Unitarian  and  reformer. 
Professor  George  E.  Vincent  was  toastmaster  and  the  chairman  was  Charles 
L.  Hutchinson. 

The  "thanks  of  the  Parker  family"  for  the  tribute  were  extended  by 
Miss  Gertrude  Parker  Dingee,  a  grand-niece  of  the  man  whose  birth  cen- 
tennial and  semi-centennial  of  whose  death  were  the  occasions  of  the  cele- 
bration. 

The  beginning  of  the  campaign  for  the  cause  of  women  was  touched 
upon  by  Miss  Jane  Addams,  who  appealed  to  carry  that  fight  to  a  successful 
end.  Judge  Julian  Mack  declared  that  Parker's  solution  of  the  present  im- 
migrant problem  would  l)e  to  call  upon  the  country  to  help  uphold  the  prin- 
ciple that  "America  shall  always  be  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed." 


{Rev.  Herbert  L.  Willett  of  Chicago  University,  in  The  Christian  Century) 

Last  week  a  series  of  special  gatherings  in  the  city  celebrated  the  an- 
niversaries of  Theodore  Parker,  the  eminent  thinker  and  preacher  of  Bostori 
a  half  century  ago.  There  was  assembled  in  this  city  a  conspicuous  com- 
pany of  leaders  in  liberal  religious  thought  in  honor  of  the  event.  Meetings 
were  held  in  several  different  halls,  and  in  a  number  of  the  churches  ap- 
preciative reference  was  made  to  the  influence  of  Parker  upon  religious 
and  social  thought  in  America.  The  climax  of  the  celebration  was  reached 
on  Thursday  evening  at  a  banquet  held  at  the  Auditorium,  at  which  time 


PRESS  NOTICES  209 


about  five  hundred  people,  representing  many  different  organizations  and 
interests,  listened  to  addresses  from  President  Hamilton  of  Tufts  College, 
Judge  Mack  of  Chicago,  Miss  Jane  Addams  of  Hull  House,  Mrs.  Ella  Flagg 
Young,  superintendent  of  public  schools  in  Chicago,  Mr.  Edwin  D.  Mead  ot 
Boston,  Mr,  Charles  F.  Dole,  president  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  Club,  and 
Rev.  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones  of  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre,  Chicago,  who  had 
been  chiefly  instrumental  in  organizing  the  celebration. 

Theodore  Parker  was  one  of  the  first  men  in  America  to  recognize  the 
essential  unity  of  religious  interests.  His  breadth  of  view  and  disinclination 
to  concern  himself  with  the  theological  discussions  of  the  times  made  him 
a  feared  and  often  hated  figure.  There  were  many  who  thought  that  the 
name,  Theodore  Parker,  was  capable  of  definition  by  any  of  the  opprobrious 
epithets  which  are  reserved  in  our  day  for  tlie  billingsgate  of  uninformed 
and  hot-tempered  doctrinal  animosity.  But  for  the  most  part,  the  views 
held  by  Theodore  Parker  have  become  the  commonplaces  of  religious  think- 
ing in  our  time.  He  can  be  claimed  by  the  Unitarians  only  in  the  very 
general  sense  that  he  happened  to  find  Unitarianism  the  freest  atmosphere  in 
his  time.  But  his  spirit  differed  totally  from  that  of  an  extreme  Unitarian- 
ism, such  as  Minot  J.  Savage  would  represent  today. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  Theodore  Parker  made  frequent  use  of  the 
phrase  afterwards  so  masterfully  employed  by  Lincoln  in  his  Gettysburg 
speech :  "A  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people." 
Yet  it  is  doubtful  if  it  can  be  proved  that  Lincoln  derived  the  phrase  from 
Parker,  for  it  was  much  older  than  Parker  is  today. 

That  theological  misunderstandings  have  not  faded  from  the  earth,  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  several  ministers  to  whom  the  invitation  to  attend 
the  meetings  in  connection  with  the  Parker  memorial  was  sent,  responded 
with  acerbity,  asserting  that  Parker  was  the  outspoken  enemy  of  orthodox 
religion  in  his  time,  and  they  wanted  no  part  in  doing  honor  to  his  name. 
But  this  spirit  of  belated  hatred  is  disappearing  from  the  earth.  Parker 
was  by  no  means  the  greatest  man  of  his  generation,  as  some  of  his  over- 
zealous  panegyrists  would  have  us  believe,  but  he  rendered  valiant  service 
in  the  cause  of  religious  liberty  and  of  social  progress. 


(Unity,  Nov.  24,  1910) 

"The  Theodore  Parker  week"  in  Chicago  has  come  and  gone,  and  we 
believe  it  can  be  pronounced  an  unique  and  inspiring  success,  not  so  much 
on  account  of  the  size  of  the  audiences  as  the  spirit  manifested  and  the 
radiating  influence.  The  experiment  of  a  distributed  rather  than  a  centralized 
program  lessened  the  attendance  at  any  one  meeting,  but  greatly  increased 
the  pomts  of  interest  and  the  total  aggregate  of  those  who  came  under  the 
spell  of  the  inspiring  name. 

The  meetings  for  vrhich  the  committee  provided  speakers  were  held  in 
at  least  fourteen  different  centers  in  Chicago  and  vicinity.  Those  acquainted 
with  the  geography  of  this  metropolis  will  realize  the  wide  dissemination 
and  the  interesting  character  of  the  meetings  by  a  mere  recital  of  the  places 
where  the  meetings  were  held :  Orchestra  Hall  and  the  University  Club  at 
the  center  of  the  city;  Sinai  Temple,  Hull  House,  Abraham  Lincoln  Centre, 
Frederick  Douglass  Center,  the  University  Congregational  Church  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  University  of  Chicago ;  the  chapel  of  Northwestern 
University,  the  Evanston  Congregational  Church,  Unity  Church  of  Oak  Park, 
the  Congregational  Church  of  Whmetka,  St.  Paul's  Universalist  Church, 
Isaiah  Temple  and  the  Auditorium  Hotel.  Perhaps  as  many  more  centers 
took  note  of  the  Theodore  Parker  event  under  the  lead  and  direction  of 
their  own  pastors.  Such  a  recognition  we  know  was  given  by  the  Central 
Church  of  which  Dr.  Gunsaulus  is  pastor,  R.  A.  White  of  the  People's 
Liberal  Church,  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  of  which  A.  Eugene  Bartlett 
is  pastor,  the  Unitarian  Church  at  Evanston,  the  K.  A.  M.  Jewish  Temple, 


210 THEODORE    PARKER    ANNIVERSARIES 

of  which  Dr.  Schanfarber  is  rabbi,  and  doubtless  there  were  others  of  which 
no  notice  has  reached  the  Unity  office. 

The  example  set  by  the  representatives  of  the  Free  Religious  Associa- 
tion, the  Congress  of  Religion  and  the  National  Federation  of  Religious 
Liberals,  backed  by  the  invitation  of  one  hundred  citizens  or  more  in  Chicago, 
provoked  other  recognitions  throughout  the  Mississippi  valley.  Notices  have 
reached  us  of  many  such,  reaching  from  Columbus,  Ohio,  to  Galveston, 
Texas. 

The  fellowship  represented  in  these  celebrations  was  such  as  would  have 
delighted  the  heart  of  the  great  preacher  and  justifies  the  consecrated  seed- 
sowing  that  is  bearing  such  heavenly  fruit.  The  words  of  Parker,  the  mes- 
sage of  universal  brotherhood  and  the  everlasting  elements  in  religion  were 
made  flesh  in  representatives  that  reached  from  Arkansas  to  India.  Hindu, 
Catholic,  Orthodox,  Heterodox,  Jew,  black  and  white,  lay  and  clergy,  men 
and  women,  sent  their  messengers  to  testify  to  the  virility  of  Parker's  mes- 
sage and  the  fertility  of  the  seed  he  sowed. 

So  much  space  is  given  and  will  be  given  to  the  reporting  of  the  words 
spoken  that  there  is  little  room  left  for  comment,  and  there  is  no  need  of 
such.  This  week  we  give  to  our  readers  the  message  of  the  black  man  from 
Arkansas,  which  was  delivered  with  grace  and  power,  and  was  listened  to 
with  tearful  sympathy  and  appreciation,  at  the  Lincoln  Centre,  Douglass 
Center  and  at  the  Auditorium  banquet.  The  message  of  Professor  Foster 
is  self-interpreting  in  these  columns.  Next  week  we  will  print  the  message 
which  Mr.  Sullivan  of  Kansas  City  brought  out  of  the  heart  of  the  Roman 
church,  which  was  also  received  with  much  heartiness  and  profound  sym- 
pathy for  the  young  Paulist  father  who  has  followed  the  light  through  the 
barriers  of  creed  and  out  of  the  consolations  of  so  sheltering  a  fellowship 
into  the  open  day. 

The  banquet  at  the  Auditorium  was  a  fitting  climax  to  the  program. 
Experienced  banqueters  unhesitatingly  pronounced  it  a  record-breaking  oc- 
casion. The  thought  was  high  and  the  movement  swift,  the  attendance 
large,  the  listening  eager,  the  speaking  at  once  earnest  and  genial,  jolly  and 
inspiring.  Professor  Vincent,  son  of  a  Methodist  bishop,  was  a  veritable 
dynamo  as  a  toastmaster,  and  under  his  inspiring  direction  ten  speakers, 
all  with  something  to  say,  all  succeeded  in  saying  it,  and  under  a  three- 
minute  rule  were  heard  in  fifty-five  minutes.  Something  of  this  illumination 
in  the  honor  of  Theodore  Parker  may  be  reflected  in  the  columns  of  Unity 
later  on. 

But  there  is  too  much  for  Unity,  and  we  are  already  busy  at  the  Unity 
office  in  preparing  a  full  report  of  the  meetmgs,  which  will  be  issued  in 
pamphlet  form  at  as  early  a  date  as  possible.  Such  a  pamphlet  will  offer 
material  for  future  historians,  and  the  committee  are  anxious  to  note  in  [ts 
pages  such  other  Theodore  Parker  Centennial  memorials,  past  or  prospec- 
tive, as  have  been  or  will  be  celebrated  in  the  Middle  West.  A  request  is 
hereby  made  for  information  concerning  such  celebrations  held  between  the 
Alleghanies  and  the  Rockies,  between  the  Lakes  and  the  Gulf. 

This  pamphlet  will  be  offered  for  sale  for  25c.  The  edition  must  neces- 
sarily be  limited.  Orders  received  before  going  to  press,  say  not  later  than 
the  tenth  of  December,  will  be  provided  for. 


THE.  INNER  VOICE  211 


®If0  SttnFr  Hntr^ 


/I    True  Incident  in   the   Childhood   of   Theodore   Parker. 


When  little  Theodore  was   small — 

A  boy  of   four  was  he — 
His    father   took   him   by   the    hand, 

And   said,   "Now  come  with   me." 

They  walked  afar  across  the  farm. 
And    talked    of    flower,    bird,    stone ; 

Then  the  good  father  kissed  his  son, 
And    sent    him    home   alone. 

The   pasture    way   was    beautiful 
That   balmy   day   of   spring ; 

Rhodora  blossomed  near  the  path — 
A  rare  and  lovely  thing. 

And   there   within   a  shallow  pool, 

As  if  his  work  were  done, 
A  little  spotted  tortoise  lay 

A-basking    in    the    sun. 

The  boy  espied  him,  then  drew  near; 

A   stick  was   in   his   hand ; 
He  lifted  it  to  strike,  to  kill 

The  tortoise  on  the  sand. 

But  suddenly  his  arm  was  stayed — 
Stayed   was   his   purpose   strong; 

For    loud    and    clear    he    heard    a    voice 
Say :    "Stop  !  for  that  is  wrong !" 

Listening  and   wondering,   the  child 

Held  his  uplifted  stick; 
What  was  this   feeling,  strange   and  new. 

That  made  his  heart  beat  quick? 

He  hurried   to  his  mother's  room ; 

He  climbed   upon   her  knee. 
'Mother,  I  saw  a  tortoise  lie 

As   still   as   still  could   be, 

'Right   in   the   water   of  our   pond — 
You    know   it    is   not    deep ; 

I   lifted   up  my  stick  to   strike 
The   pretty  thing   asleep. 

'Just  then  a  voice  spoke  loud  and  strong— 

These   very   words    it   said : 
'Stop,    Theodore,    for    that    is    wrong!' 

I  turned ;  I  was  afraid. 

'I    looked   around ;   no   one   was   near 

To    say    a   single    word. 
Oh,   tell  me,   tell   me,   mother   dear. 

What  was  the  voice  I  heard?" 


212 


THEODORE   PARKER   ANNIVERSARIES 


The  mother  wiped  a   starting  tear; 

It   was  a  tear  of  joy. 
Within   her   arms   she   held   him   close — 

Her   darling  little   boy. 

"Men   call  it  conscience,   Theodore; 

But  I  like  best  to  say 
It  is  God's  voice  within  man's  soul, 
That  shows  the  better  way. 

"Listen,   obey,   and  it  will  speak 

Clearer   and   yet   more   clear; 
And   it  will  always  guide  aright, 
If   you  will  only  hear. 

"But  if   a  deaf  ear  you   should   turn — 

If   you   should   disobey — 

Little    by   little    it    will    fade. 

And    vanish    quite    away. 

"Because    this    heavenly   Guide   is   yours. 

My  darling  boy,  rejoice ! 
Your  life  depends  on  how  you  heed 
The  little  inner  voice" 


Long  years  went  by ;  the  country  boy 

Became   a   stalwart   man, 
And  in  the  great  world  did  his  part 

As   only  good  men  can. 

He  was  a  preacher  taught  of  God ; 

The    Voice   he    still    revered; 
By   righteous   men   he   was   beloved. 

By  wicked    men   was    feared. 

He  stood  within  a  stately  hall; 

His  words  were  strong  and  brave : 
"Though   wealth  should  go,  though  blood   should  flow. 
No  man   shall  be  a  slave !" 

The  Voice  within  was  clarion  now. 

And  fearlessly  he  hurled 
Its    ringing,    burning,    withering   words 

Against   a   coward    world. 

A  clarion,  and  yet  the  same 

That  spoke  in  days  of  yore — 
First  heard  by  lonely  pasture  pool. 

Now  heard    from    shore    to    shore; 

First  heeded  by  a  little  child ; 

Now  grown  a  Voice  of  might 
That  led  a  listening  nation  in 

Its   splendid   march   of    right. 

O  Mother,  dead  long  years  ago. 
Your   words  can   never   die ; 
Their  seed  was  sown  in  hero-soil 
To  bloom  eternally. 

Lydia  Avery  CooNLtY  Ward. 
Written  for  the  Chicago  Anniversaries. 


Works  of 
Theodore  Parker 

Centenary  Edition 

To  one  who  is  acquainted  with  the  present  drift  in  theology 
and  notes  the  ever-broadening  and  rationah'zing  tendencies 
of  current  rehgious  thought,  Theodore  Parker  spoke  the 
truth  when  he  afHrmed:  "The  reHgion  which  I  preach  will 
be  the  religion  of  enlightened  men  for  the  next  thousand 
years."  That  this  expectation  of  the  great  religious  teacher 
might  be  realized,  and  his  continued  influence  be  assured 
to  posterity,  it  was  important  that  his  writings,  both  on 
religious  and  social  topics,  should  be  accessible  to  coming 
generations.  No  complete  and  authentic  collection  has 
been  possible  until  now.  The  present  edition  aims  to  supply 
the  existing  need  for  a  full,  inexpensive,  and  probably  final 
collection  of  Parker's  writings. 

The  List  of  Volumes  and  Editors  is  as  follows: 

Volume  I. — A  Discourse  of  Matters  Volume  VIII.  —  T  h  e  American 

Pertaining  to   Religion.      Edited   by  Scholar.   Edited  by  George  W.Cooke. 

Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson.  Volume  IX.-Sins  and  Safeguards 

Volume  U.-Theism  and  Atheism.  gf    Society.     Edited    by  Samuel    B. 

Edited  by  Charles  W.  Wendte.  Stewart. 

,,  ,          tti      o                    I  T,  >•   •  Volume  X.  — Social  Classes  in    a 

Volume  m.-Sermons  of  Religion.  Republic.    Edited    by   Samuel    A. 

Edited  by  Samuel  A.  Eliot.  Eliot. 

Volume  IV.  — The  Transient   and  Volume  XI.  — The   Slave  Power. 

Permanent  in  Christianity.   Edited  by  Edited  by  James  K.  Hosmer. 

George  W.  Cooke.  Volume  XII.-The  Rights  of  Man  in 

Volume  v.  — Lessons   from   the  America.    Edited  by   Frank   B. 

Worldof  Matter  and  of  Man.    Edited  Sanborn. 

by  Rufus  Leighton.  Volume  XIII.— A utobiography. 

Volume  VI.-The  World  of  Matter  Poems   and   Prayers.     Edited  by 

and  the  Spirit  of    Man.     Edited  by  Rufus  Leighton. 

George  W.  Cooke.  Volume  XIV.  — Miscellanies.    Edit- 

Volume  VII.- Historic  Americans.  ed  by  Charles  W.  Wendte. 

Edited  by  Samuel  A.  Eliot.  Index.— To  be  found  in  Vol.  XIV. 

Size  8  vo.;  pages,  400  to  500  per  volume;  price  per 
volume,  $1.00  net;  by  mail,  $1.16.  Per  set,  $10.00  net; 
delivered,  $11.50. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

American  Unitarian  Association 

25  Beacon  Street  Boston,  Massachusetts 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


iilEOL  APR  15  1964 


^tv^ 


t  ^l"^^"^^ 


Form  L9 — 15m-10,'48  (B1039)444 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  102  187 


t 


9  e 


PLEA«5^  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
THIS  BOOK  CARD 


.^^l•LIBRARYQ^ 


University  Research  Library 


^-$\\^SS^«SJ;^<$S\^N,W>\« 


